If you pursue a associate degree in general biology, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #18 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 6 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Biology Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,541 associate degrees in general biology during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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Choosing a Great General Biology School for Your Associate Degree
The biology associate 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 associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
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 general biology students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of general biology students who choose to seek a associate 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 much debt general biology students go into to obtain their associate 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 general biology related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for general biology students working on their associate degree.
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 General Biology Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list to help you make the college decision.
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It's difficult to beat South Texas College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in general biology. South Texas College is a fairly large public college located in the midsize city of McAllen.
Associate students who receive their degree from the biology program earn an average of $28,791 for their early career.
Austin Community College District is a great option for individuals pursuing an associate degree in general biology. Austin Community College District is a very large public college located in the city of Austin.
General Biology associate degree recipients from Austin Community College District earn a boost of approximately $7,306 over the typical income of general biology majors.
Every student who is interested in an associate degree in general biology has to check out Houston Community College. Located in the large city of Houston, Houston Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the biology program make an average of $24,621 in their early career salary.
Texas State Technical College is a great decision for individuals pursuing an associate degree in general biology. Located in the city of Waco, TSTC is a public college with a large student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the biology program make around $21,288 in their early career salary.
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.
The biology associate 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.
