Augustana College Biology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Biology, General
- Private nonprofit college
- Rock Island, IL
- About 69 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Augustana College biology graduates earn about what biology graduates earn nationally, $32,844 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $25,000. Several Illinois programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Illinois and national columns are the medians across all biology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Augustana College graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Illinois median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois biology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 93% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 10.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 64 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $28,143.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
70% of graduates (59 of 84) were working in Illinois one year after graduating. Prices in the Davenport area are about 11% below the national average, so a $32,844 salary here buys what about $36,871 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to biology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$79,990Median pay in Illinois. 44,670 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
$82,330Median pay in Illinois. 4,700 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.
Natural Sciences Managers
$159,670Median pay in Illinois. 2,810 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Biological Technicians
$55,790Median pay in Illinois. 790 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Augustana College
Biology ranks 14th of 20 bachelor's programs at Augustana College by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($74,745), Accounting ($62,149), and Engineering Physics ($54,165).
Other biology bachelor's programs near Rock Island
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,844 one year after graduating and $63,514 five years after. The median across biology bachelor's programs in Illinois is $32,844.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 20th lowest of 27 biology bachelor's programs in Illinois. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 82% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 75%. Compare the cost with other Illinois programs before deciding.
Most do. 70% (59 of 84) were working in Illinois one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Illinois comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the biology program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024