2025 Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

a master's degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #68 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 4 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of ecology, evolution & systematics biology. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 133 master's degrees in ecology, evolution & systematics biology during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology School for Your Master's Degree

The ecology master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to ecology, evolution & systematics biology students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other ecology, evolution & systematics biology students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt ecology, evolution & systematics biology students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized ecology, evolution & systematics biology related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for ecology, evolution & systematics biology students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology in the Plains States Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for ecology, evolution & systematics biology students seeking a a master's degree.

Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in Ecology

1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

51 Annual Graduates

$65,137 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology has to look into University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the city of Minneapolis.

Master's students who receive their degree from the ecology program make about $65,137 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

2

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

28 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat University of Iowa if you wish to pursue a master's degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from University of Iowa

3

Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO

34 Annual Graduates

Saint Louis University is a good option for individuals interested in a master's degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology. Located in the city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from Saint Louis University

4

North Dakota State University - Main Campus
Fargo, ND

12 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat North Dakota State University - Main Campus if you wish to pursue a master's degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology. Located in the medium-sized city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in ecology, evolution & systematics biology from North Dakota State University - Main Campus

Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Colleges by State

Explore the best ecology, evolution & systematics biology colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	193	12
Minnesota	174	42
Iowa	154	9
Kansas	149	6
North Dakota	115	3

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Rankings in Majors Related to Ecology

One of 14 majors within the Biological & Biomedical Sciences area of study, Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Ecology Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Epidemiology	118
Evolutionary Biology	8
Environmental Biology	6
Ecology	1

Majors Similar to Ecology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Biology	441
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other)	128
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	120
Physiology & Pathology Sciences	87
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	79
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	40
Zoology	28
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	27
Genetics	21
Pharmacology & Toxicology	14

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Ernst Haeckel. More about our data sources and methodologies.