Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Biochemistry

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

Quick answer

For Biochemistry, University of California-Santa Barbara (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $90,694. 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 California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$90,694	$11,750	74	93.9
2	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$79,820	$11,000	66	88.7
3	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$90,787	$17,103	32	87.8
4	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	Bachelor's Degree	$81,568	$18,250	79	87
5	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$134,860	-	50	86.5
6	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$88,305	$18,959	49	86.2
7	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Doctoral Degree	$126,758	-	38	84.6
8	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Doctoral Degree	$174,114	-	27	83.6
9	University of California-San Francisco San Francisco, CA	Doctoral Degree	$117,339	-	29	82.5
10	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Doctoral Degree	$108,169	-	36	82.4
11	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Doctoral Degree	$116,369	-	29	82.1
12	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	Bachelor's Degree	$80,593	$19,500	58	82.1
13	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$73,506	$14,753	222	81.8
14	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$80,470	$19,500	57	81.7
15	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,097	$17,500	39	80.8
16	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Doctoral Degree	$108,451	-	25	80.8
17	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$90,612	$23,250	82	80.8
18	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$76,134	$14,986	41	80.6
19	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Doctoral Degree	$123,814	-	16	80.3
20	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$79,592	$18,946	34	79.7
21	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$70,754	$11,000	222	79.6
22	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$72,491	$17,359	132	78.6
23	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$75,493	$19,500	59	75.7
24	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$75,274	$19,000	45	75.1
25	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$79,510	$22,862	52	74.9
26	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Bachelor's Degree	$72,988	$20,000	189	74.8
27	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$78,721	$22,777	56	74.6
28	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,853	$23,250	158	73.8
29	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Master's Degree	$94,206	$62,607	48	73.6
30	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$85,296	$23,125	23	73.6
31	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$67,925	$17,095	272	73.5
32	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$81,519	$25,000	43	73.5
33	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,048	$20,166	29	72.6
34	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,496	-	25	72.2
35	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$69,875	$17,625	47	71.8
36	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$80,364	$25,125	39	71.6
37	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$68,488	$18,487	73	70.9
38	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$68,170	$18,240	67	70.8
39	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,336	$25,750	81	70
40	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$77,863	-	16	69.8
41	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$87,075	$27,000	27	69.8
42	Portland State University Portland, OR	Bachelor's Degree	$75,765	$22,221	27	68.6
43	Rice University Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$67,158	$7,500	38	68.1
44	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$83,380	$27,000	26	68
45	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$71,136	$22,000	66	68
46	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$67,441	$16,156	43	67.9
47	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$85,313	$27,000	21	67.9
48	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$67,639	$17,713	49	67.9
49	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$79,510	$22,862	0	67.7
50	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$70,343	$21,500	63	67.6

Filter Biochemistry by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Biochemistry

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$81,568	93%	87
2	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$88,305	66%	86.2
3	University of California-San Francisco San Francisco, CA Strong Biochemistry outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$117,339	-	82.5
4	University of Vermont Burlington, VT Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$80,593	65%	82.1
5	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$76,134	96%	80.6
6	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$79,592	75%	79.7
7	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$75,493	72%	75.7
8	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA Strong Biochemistry outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,853	60%	73.8
9	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$85,296	84%	73.6
10	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$81,519	88%	73.5
11	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,048	93%	72.6
12	Temple University Philadelphia, PA Strong Biochemistry outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$80,364	80%	71.6

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 Biochemistry field (CIP 26.02) 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 Biochemistry 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 Biochemistry program?+

By our outcome score, University of California-Santa Barbara (California) ranks #1 for Biochemistry, with median graduate earnings of $90,694.

How are these Biochemistry 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 Biochemistry 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

Biochemistry rankings (filterable)All major rankings Browse colleges Tuition-free colleges All Best-Of guides

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. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.