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Best Colleges for Marine Biology

50 Marine Biology programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Marine Biology, University of Washington-Seattle Campus (Washington) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $201,168. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Master's Degree	$201,168	—	53	86.4
2	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Doctoral Degree	$185,905	—	52	85.6
3	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$237,136	—	27	84
4	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Master's Degree	$106,149	—	50	82.5
5	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Doctoral Degree	$117,823	—	16	79.7
6	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Master's Degree	$168,833	$63,553	107	79.1
7	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Master's Degree	$108,698	$74,333	156	76.9
8	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	Doctoral Degree	$96,987	—	18	76.7
9	Boston University Boston, MA	Master's Degree	$96,565	$59,608	170	76
10	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Doctoral Degree	$85,764	—	45	75.7
11	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Doctoral Degree	$113,327	$43,008	31	75.5
12	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,952	—	73	74.9
13	George Washington University Washington, DC	Master's Degree	$100,537	$67,389	82	74.3
14	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$65,639	$19,500	75	74.2
15	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$102,199	$87,000	88	74.2
16	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$61,078	$10,419	115	73.9
17	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Doctoral Degree	$90,675	—	15	73.5
18	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,525	$12,744	30	73.3
19	Yale University New Haven, CT	Master's Degree	$93,163	$66,000	68	72.2
20	Tufts University Medford, MA	Master's Degree	$89,553	$62,600	68	71.4
21	Emory University Atlanta, GA	Master's Degree	$88,235	$66,000	158	71.1
22	New York University New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$65,406	$20,500	56	70.9
23	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$89,003	$53,500	53	70.8
24	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	Doctoral Degree	$76,183	—	35	70.7
25	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$91,158	$63,326	34	69.4
26	The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Houston, TX	Master's Degree	$74,534	$34,764	146	68.6
27	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Master's Degree	$80,316	$57,517	60	67.6
28	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	Master's Degree	$84,522	$55,678	40	66.9
29	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$73,144	$28,000	84	66.7
30	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$62,011	$19,591	31	66.4
31	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$55,588	$17,750	48	65.6
32	Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC	Master's Degree	$84,573	$30,750	14	65
33	California State University-Chico Chico, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$64,274	—	—	64.7
34	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC	Bachelor's Degree	$55,093	$18,965	55	64.1
35	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	Doctoral Degree	$70,373	—	10	63.8
36	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	Master's Degree	$73,547	$83,360	125	63.8
37	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$66,828	—	14	63.8
38	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,940	$20,335	—	63.4
39	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Master's Degree	$66,412	$34,436	61	63.2
40	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$54,370	$19,500	79	62.9
41	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	Master's Degree	$77,285	$99,713	48	62.9
42	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$62,344	—	37	62.6
43	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$53,518	$17,387	—	61.6
44	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$53,747	$20,038	66	61.3
45	Connecticut College New London, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$62,925	$25,979	23	60.4
46	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$53,429	$21,256	209	60
47	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA	First Professional Degree	$74,229	$34,500	1	59
48	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$52,701	$18,367	135	58.1
49	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK	Master's Degree	$61,509	—	14	57.2
50	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC	Master's Degree	$61,746	—	8	57.1

🔍 Filter Marine Biology by state & degree level →

💎

Hidden Gems for Marine Biology

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Marine Biology — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$96,987	89%	76.7
2	George Washington University Washington, DC Strong Marine Biology outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$100,537	47%	74.3
3	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$63,525	75%	73.3
4	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$89,003	79%	70.8
5	The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Houston, TX Strong Marine Biology outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$74,534	—	68.6
6	Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$84,573	75%	65
7	California State University-Chico Chico, CA Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$64,274	93%	64.7
8	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$70,373	66%	63.8
9	Temple University Philadelphia, PA Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$66,828	80%	63.8
10	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Strong Marine Biology outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$53,747	49%	61.3
11	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Strong Marine Biology outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$74,229	58%	59
12	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK Strong Marine Biology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$61,509	75%	57.2

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Marine Biology field (CIP 26.13) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Marine Biology programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Marine Biology program?+

By our outcome score, University of Washington-Seattle Campus (Washington) ranks #1 for Marine Biology, with median graduate earnings of $201,168.

How are these Marine Biology programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Marine Biology programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.