Which Oregon biology program has the lowest debt?

Eastern Oregon University reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,916, with first-year pay of $35,435.

How much do biology graduates earn in Oregon?

The median across 14 Oregon biology bachelor's programs is $30,225 in the first year after graduating and $54,017 five years after.

How many biology bachelor's programs are in Oregon?

14 Oregon programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 13 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Oregon biology bachelor's program pays its graduates $30,225 in their first year, $1,987 less than the national median. Linfield University reports the highest first-year pay ($42,677), and Eastern Oregon University the lowest median debt ($20,916).

Median first-year pay$30,225National $32,212

Median pay after 5 years$54,017National $60,596

Median federal debt$25,400National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings81%National 75%

All 14 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	Linfield UniversityMcMinnville · private nonprofit	$42,677	$44,884	$27,000	63%
2	University of OregonEugene · public	$35,483	$59,129	$25,400	72%
3	Eastern Oregon UniversityLa Grande · public	$35,435	Not reported	$20,916	59%
4	Pacific UniversityForest Grove · private nonprofit	$34,612	$61,102	$26,021	75%
5	Southern Oregon UniversityAshland · public	$33,930	Not reported	$27,000	80%
6	George Fox UniversityNewberg · private nonprofit	$33,523	$59,642	$27,000	81%
7	Oregon StateCorvallis · public	$30,982	$54,017	$22,846	74%
8	Portland StatePortland · public	$29,468	$53,504	$25,750	87%
9	Oregon Institute of TechnologyKlamath Falls · public	$28,606	$66,522	$24,328	85%
10	University of PortlandPortland · private nonprofit	$26,340	$53,076	$22,846	87%
11	Western Oregon UniversityMonmouth · public	$25,726	$64,559	$27,342	106%
12	Reed CollegePortland · private nonprofit	$25,596	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
13	Willamette UniversitySalem · private nonprofit	$25,100	$48,470	$24,870	99%
14	Lewis & Clark CollegePortland · private nonprofit	$24,050	$49,175	$21,464	89%

Reed College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Oregon biology program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Oregon medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 13 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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

$79,570

Median pay in Oregon. 11,730 people work in this job in Oregon. 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%: $49,640Top 10%: $101,310

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

$111,030

Median pay in Oregon. 1,030 people work in this job in Oregon. 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%: $69,720Top 10%: $205,870

Natural Sciences Managers

$143,120

Median pay in Oregon. 1,700 people work in this job in Oregon. 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%: $102,760Top 10%: $225,560

Biological Technicians

$52,190

Median pay in Oregon. 1,590 people work in this job in Oregon. 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%: $40,330Top 10%: $73,740

Common questions

Linfield University in McMinnville reports the highest median first-year pay, $42,677. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

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 Oregon 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