If you plan on getting your master's degree in ecology, evolution & systematics biology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #68 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual looked at 6 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 234 master's degrees in ecology, evolution & systematics biology to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of ecology, evolution & systematics biology for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality ecology program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on ecology, evolution & systematics biology students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of ecology, evolution & systematics biology students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for ecology, evolution & systematics biology to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized ecology, evolution & systematics biology related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for ecology, evolution & systematics biology students working on their master's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology Master's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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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).