Which Illinois biology program has the lowest debt?

University of Chicago reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,500, with first-year pay of $35,275.

How much do biology graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 27 Illinois biology bachelor's programs is $32,844 in the first year after graduating and $62,046 five years after.

How many biology bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

27 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 27 of them also report federal debt.

Biology (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

27 programs report first-year pay
27 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Biology, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois biology bachelor's program pays its graduates $32,844 in their first year, $632 more than the national median. Governors State reports the highest first-year pay ($43,641), and University of Chicago the lowest median debt ($13,500).

Median first-year pay$32,844National $32,212

Median pay after 5 years$62,046National $60,596

Median federal debt$26,250National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings78%National 75%

All 27 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Governors StateUniversity Park · public	$43,641	$62,132	$31,250	72%
2	Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago · public	$40,392	$60,795	$14,031	35%
3	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$38,137	$63,964	$23,630	62%
4	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$38,067	$61,744	$22,396	59%
5	Saint Xavier UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$37,977	$57,276	$26,939	71%
6	Illinois StateNormal · public	$36,337	$53,848	$24,672	68%
7	Lewis UniversityRomeoville · private nonprofit	$35,948	Not reported	$26,499	74%
8	University of ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$35,275	$68,610	$13,500	38%
9	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb · public	$34,052	$50,891	$27,585	81%
10	Olivet Nazarene UniversityBourbonnais · private nonprofit	$33,908	$64,844	$26,000	77%
11	University of Illinois SpringfieldSpringfield · public	$33,882	$58,168	$22,116	65%
12	North Park UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$33,592	Not reported	$27,000	80%
13	Lake Forest CollegeLake Forest · private nonprofit	$33,380	Not reported	$27,000	81%
14	Augustana CollegeRock Island · private nonprofit	$32,844	$63,514	$27,000	82%
15	Aurora UniversityAurora · private nonprofit	$32,691	$60,920	$24,163	74%
16	Loyola ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$31,964	$67,114	$25,000	78%
17	McKendree UniversityLebanon · private nonprofit	$31,678	Not reported	$26,833	85%
18	Illinois CollegeJacksonville · private nonprofit	$31,438	$57,530	$26,533	84%
19	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston · public	$31,278	$58,333	$24,000	77%
20	Knox CollegeGalesburg · private nonprofit	$31,203	Not reported	$27,000	87%
21	Elmhurst UniversityElmhurst · private nonprofit	$30,804	$58,884	$24,287	79%
22	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$30,750	$62,046	$27,000	88%
23	Benedictine UniversityLisle · private nonprofit	$29,215	$68,748	$25,278	87%
24	UICChicago · public	$28,768	$66,924	$18,000	63%
25	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$28,206	$58,410	$27,000	96%
26	Roosevelt UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$27,462	$63,705	$26,000	95%
27	Dominican UniversityRiver Forest · private nonprofit	$26,015	$61,903	$25,117	97%

11 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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 the 27 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Governors State$43,641
Northeastern Illinois University$40,392
Northern Illinois University$38,137
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville$38,067
Saint Xavier University$37,977

Lowest median debt

University of Chicago$13,500
Northeastern Illinois University$14,031
UIC$18,000
University of Illinois Springfield$22,116
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville$22,396

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$79,990

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $49,020Top 10%: $135,960

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$82,330

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $59,550Top 10%: $143,890

Natural Sciences Managers

$159,670

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $85,210Top 10%: $281,660

Biological Technicians

$55,790

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,230Top 10%: $79,440

Common questions

Governors State in University Park reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,641. Its median federal debt is $31,250.

Biology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked795 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the biology bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024