SUNY Oneonta Biology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Biology, General
- Public school
- Oneonta, NY
- About 77 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
SUNY Oneonta biology graduates earn about what biology graduates earn nationally, $32,738 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $21,537 in federal loans, close to the national median of $25,000. Several New York programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all biology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, SUNY Oneonta graduates earn more than the national figure but about $3,899 less than the New York median. Several New York programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York biology program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York 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 96% 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. 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 $228 a month, or 8.4% 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, 55 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $17,414.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
88% of graduates (100 of 114) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of New York outside metro areas are about 8% below the national average, so a $32,738 salary here buys what about $35,735 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
$97,070Median pay in New York. 70,660 people work in this job in New York. 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
$87,760Median pay in New York. 7,690 people work in this job in New York. 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
$134,680Median pay in New York. 5,690 people work in this job in New York. 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
$61,210Median pay in New York. 5,050 people work in this job in New York. 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 SUNY Oneonta
Biology ranks 12th of 28 bachelor's programs at SUNY Oneonta by first-year earnings. The top three are Accounting ($63,674), Computer and Information Science ($54,111), and Business Economics ($41,859).
Other biology bachelor's programs near Oneonta
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,738 one year after graduating and $64,031 five years after. The median across biology bachelor's programs in New York is $32,288.
The median federal loan balance is $21,537, which ranks 29th lowest of 64 biology bachelor's programs in New York. That works out to about $228 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 66% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 75%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several New York programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 88% (100 of 114) were working in New York 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 New York 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