Colorado State Biology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Biology, General
- Public university
- Fort Collins, CO
- About 330 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Colorado State biology graduates earn about what biology graduates earn nationally, $32,958 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $23,009 in federal loans, close to the national median of $25,000. Several Colorado programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Colorado and national columns are the medians across all biology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Colorado State graduates earn about the national figure and about $4,504 more than the Colorado median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Colorado biology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Colorado 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 79% 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 more in their first year than other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $25,500 against $21,500.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $244 a month, or 8.9% 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, 104 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $41,656.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
82% of graduates (159 of 193) were working in Colorado one year after graduating. Prices in the Fort Collins area are about 1% above the national average, so a $32,958 salary here buys what about $32,590 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
$72,900Median pay in Colorado. 18,310 people work in this job in Colorado. 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
$103,410Median pay nationwide. 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
$152,730Median pay in Colorado. 1,640 people work in this job in Colorado. 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
$59,400Median pay in Colorado. 1,990 people work in this job in Colorado. 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 Colorado State
Biology ranks 42nd of 52 bachelor's programs at Colorado State by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer and Information Science ($78,856), Construction Engineering Technology ($78,423), and Electrical Engineering ($78,038).
Other biology bachelor's programs near Fort Collins
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,958 one year after graduating and $58,902 five years after. The median across biology bachelor's programs in Colorado is $34,562.
The median federal loan balance is $23,009, which ranks 5th lowest of 11 biology bachelor's programs in Colorado. That works out to about $244 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 70% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 75%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Colorado programs report higher pay.
Most do. 82% (159 of 193) were working in Colorado 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 Colorado 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