Buena Vista University Biology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Biology, General
- Private nonprofit university
- Storm Lake, IA
- About 12 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Buena Vista University biology graduates earn about what biology graduates earn nationally, $30,682 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $25,000. Several Iowa programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Iowa and national columns are the medians across all biology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Buena Vista University graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Iowa median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Iowa biology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Iowa 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 107% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 11.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the parts of Iowa outside metro areas are about 16% below the national average, so a $30,682 salary here buys what about $36,493 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
$61,200Median pay in Iowa. 12,310 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$83,850Median pay in Iowa. 1,060 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$109,760Median pay in Iowa. 610 people work in this job in Iowa. 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
$48,050Median pay in Iowa. 800 people work in this job in Iowa. 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 Buena Vista University
Biology ranks 13th of 13 bachelor's programs at Buena Vista University by first-year earnings. The top three are Accounting ($53,280), Finance ($52,226), and Entrepreneurship ($49,099).
Other biology bachelor's programs near Storm Lake
Common questions
The median graduate earns $30,682 one year after graduating and $63,633 five years after. The median across biology bachelor's programs in Iowa is $34,398.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 7th lowest of 17 biology bachelor's programs in Iowa. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 88% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 75%. Compare the cost with other Iowa programs before deciding.
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 Iowa 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