liberal arts colleges with large biology brograms

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Relative size of biology programs at liberal arts colleges.
Number of biology bachelors graduates divided by the total number
of bachelors in 2004. Sorted by the percent of bachelors graduates
who are in biology.biology</p>

<p>from IPEDS Peer Analysis system</p>

<p>I think the relative size of the biology program is one indication of the quality of the program.</p>

<p>college, total bachelors, biology bachelors, biology ratio</p>

<p>WOFFORD COLLEGE 247 48 0.19
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE 540 93 0.17
COLORADO COLLEGE 523 83 0.16
EARLHAM COLLEGE 249 41 0.16
JUNIATA COLLEGE 332 50 0.15
HENDRIX COLLEGE 230 32 0.14
WHITMAN COLLEGE 337 48 0.14
AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE 204 27 0.13
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE 364 46 0.13
ALLEGHENY COLLEGE 455 61 0.13
PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE 268 36 0.13
GRINNELL COLLEGE 367 45 0.12
KALAMAZOO COLLEGE 285 34 0.12
OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 377 41 0.11
DENISON UNIVERSITY 514 56 0.11
KNOX COLLEGE 265 30 0.11
BOWDOIN COLLEGE 414 45 0.11
CARLETON COLLEGE 455 48 0.11
LAFAYETTE COLLEGE 541 58 0.11
WELLS COLLEGE 91 10 0.11
URSINUS COLLEGE 361 40 0.11
REED COLLEGE 310 34 0.11
BRYN MAWR COLLEGE 299 32 0.11
RHODES COLLEGE 334 37 0.11
LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY 314 32 0.1
POMONA COLLEGE 394 40 0.1
CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 452 45 0.1
SPELMAN COLLEGE 533 54 0.1
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 462 48 0.1
COLLEGE OF WOOSTER 391 39 0.1
CENTRE COLLEGE 258 25 0.1
COLBY COLLEGE 486 48 0.1
ST MARY'S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND 396 38 0.1
HAVERFORD COLLEGE 323 32 0.1
DAVIDSON COLLEGE 426 44 0.1
AUSTIN COLLEGE 310 32 0.1
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 311 31 0.1
WILLIAMS COLLEGE 531 48 0.09
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE 703 63 0.09
SAINT OLAF COLLEGE 708 67 0.09
BATES COLLEGE 450 41 0.09
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE 553 52 0.09
ALBION COLLEGE 309 29 0.09
BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY 856 77 0.09
MUHLENBERG COLLEGE 595 54 0.09
WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY 420 38 0.09
FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE 433 39 0.09
SEWANEE: THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH 313 27 0.09
BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN COLLEGE 236 18 0.08
OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE 459 39 0.08
DEPAUW UNIVERSITY 522 43 0.08
HANOVER COLLEGE 217 17 0.08
COLLEGE OF SAINT BENEDICT 475 37 0.08
KENYON COLLEGE 399 31 0.08
FURMAN UNIVERSITY 643 49 0.08
DICKINSON COLLEGE 512 43 0.08
HOLLINS UNIVERSITY 189 15 0.08
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY 398 28 0.07
UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND 579 39 0.07
BELOIT COLLEGE 261 17 0.07
HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE 176 13 0.07
CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE 288 19 0.07
MACALESTER COLLEGE 428 30 0.07
SMITH COLLEGE 688 48 0.07
SAINT JOHNS UNIVERSITY 494 35 0.07
MILLSAPS COLLEGE 225 15 0.07
ST LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY 499 34 0.07
OBERLIN COLLEGE 722 54 0.07
COLGATE UNIVERSITY 646 37 0.06
WELLESLEY COLLEGE 603 38 0.06
SCRIPPS COLLEGE 172 10 0.06
DREW UNIVERSITY 359 23 0.06
HOBART WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES 446 28 0.06
GETTYSBURG COLLEGE 597 34 0.06
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND 757 44 0.06
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 722 35 0.05
WABASH COLLEGE 181 9 0.05
GOUCHER COLLEGE 272 14 0.05
AMHERST COLLEGE 428 21 0.05
COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS 675 35 0.05
WHEATON COLLEGE 356 18 0.05
BARNARD COLLEGE 600 30 0.05
MILLS COLLEGE 194 9 0.05
TRINITY COLLEGE 492 25 0.05
HOPE COLLEGE 638 30 0.05
VASSAR COLLEGE 614 31 0.05
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE 632 29 0.05
RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE 235 12 0.05
SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE 132 7 0.05
PITZER COLLEGE 207 9 0.04
PRINCIPIA COLLEGE 113 5 0.04
WHEATON COLLEGE 604 21 0.03
UNION COLLEGE 132 4 0.03
HAMILTON COLLEGE 457 15 0.03
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE 278 9 0.03
SKIDMORE COLLEGE 597 10 0.02</p>

2

<p>At Washington and Lee, our biology major isn't the biggest (about 30 students out of 400) but it is amazingly strong and extremely successful - our med school placement rate is almost three times the national average.</p>

3

<p>Can you come up with a similar list for State Schools?</p>

4

<p>Dima343-
Washington and Lee is an awesome school and I would not question the quality of the bio program. I think this list shows that you can't assume that a college is great in a particular major because it has a good overall reputation. I would hesitate to go to Skidmore for biology although it has an excellent overall reputation. I don't think of this as a ranking because there are many other factors that have to be taken into account, like the selectivity of the college. But, it helps flag top LACs with small (maybe weak) bio programs and second-tier LACs with surprisingly large (maybe strong) bio programs.</p>

<p>Sonoma000-
Are you interested in the top 30 state universities? How many? I will try to do it when I get a chance.</p>

5

<p>this article may also be intersting
<a href="http://www.hhmi.org/BeyondBio101/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.hhmi.org/BeyondBio101/&lt;/a>

[quote]
"Beyond Bio 101" is based on the experiences of many of the 220 colleges and universities that have been awarded more than $335 million in grants since 1988 from the Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation's largest philanthropy. These diverse campuses, and others like them around the country, are expanding research opportunities for undergraduates, updating teaching equipment and science curricula, attracting new faculty in emerging fields, and strengthening ties with students and teachers at local schools.

[/quote]
</p>

6

<p>Collegehelp,</p>

<p>How many ever you can would be great however I'm interested in states such as AZ, WA, CO, PA and VA.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your help!</p>

7

<p>Just out of curiosity:</p>

<p>I understand why someone might be interested in the absolute size of a school's Biology program, but why would the percentage of a school's majors that are Biology majors be important to someone?</p>

<p>I mean let's say school A has 10,000 students and only 1% are Biology majors. So that's 100 biology majors.</p>

<p>And school B has 5 students total, and 100% are Biology majors. So that's 5 Biology majors. </p>

<p>I'm guessing school A probably has a more comprehensive program for a Biology major, even though it's percentage is far smaller. Could be wrong, but that's my guess.</p>

<p>So what does this % stat tell you that is not better revealed by the absolute size numbers?</p>

<p>Not arguing, just wondering.</p>

<p>A school that's good in a number of areas is always going to look worse by this measure than schools that are "one trick ponys". Just because there are people on the campus studying different subjects too, maybe also excellent in their own right, does not make their bio program worse than that of another school that is only good in bio, so students with other interests don't go there so much.</p>

8

<p>it did help when we were looking at schools because say we were considering 3 different schools and one was 5000 students-one was 3000 students and one was 1500 students, but they had 8%, 6% and 11% biology majors- the school with a greater proportion of bio majors- we assumed would invest a greater amount of money to those programs. When the smaller school, also had the greater endowment, that also benefited the biology dept.
None of the schools we considered had only one strong dept- but we did consider schools which listed biology in the top 5 majors rather than for instance consider schools which were geared more towards business and law degrees.</p>

9

<p>monydad- The absolute number of students in a major is also a useful piece of information but, by itself, it could lead to the conclusion that a very large Podunk is better than a small Swarthmore. The ratio of students graduating in a particular major to total graduates might be an indication of the effectiveness of that major relative to other majors in the college.</p>

<p>The size of a particular department is a function of many things. Student interest and demand affects departmental size but student demand would be roughly the same at all colleges unless a particular college has a better reputation in a particular subject.</p>

<p>Departmental size is also affected by the overall scale of the college or university. Everything is smaller at an LAC but the quality can be very high. The ratio takes overall scale into account and adjusts for it.</p>

<p>The relative size (ratio) of a major within a college compared to the relative size at other colleges is an indicator of quality, departmental resources, and effectiveness.</p>

<p>The example you gave of a college with an enrollment of 5 biology majors was designed to make a point but it doesn't occur in reality. Very few colleges are actually one-trick ponies. Harvey Mudd is a one-trick pony and, in the case of Harvey Mudd, the 100% engineering ratio would be an accurate index of quality. </p>

<p>The ratio is one thing to consider in the context of the entire profile of a college. Other things being almost equal, the relative size of the department could be a deciding factor.</p>

<p>Colleges tend to have strengths and weaknesses. One department might be oustanding while others are merely adequate. The difficulty is identifying the outstanding departments.</p>

<p>Over time, effective departments grow and ineffective departments don't grow. There is competition for resources and students within colleges and between colleges. </p>

<p>There is analogy in biology and ecology. Higher education has biomes, ecosystems, species living in niches. There is competition, adaptation, equilibria, natural selection. The most effective departments grow relatively large within the constraints of the college.</p>

10

<p>Here is a similar list for national universities sorted by the ratio of biology bachelor's graduates to total bachelor's graduates 2004.</p>

<p>college, total bachelors grads, biology bachelors grads, biology ratio</p>

<p>UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS 5608 960 0.17
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO 4131 661 0.16
YESHIVA UNIVERSITY 575 74 0.13
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE 4633 594 0.13
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 208 24 0.12
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER 1174 136 0.12
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-RIVERSIDE 2893 335 0.12
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES 7026 822 0.12
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 6336 681 0.11
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 1014 115 0.11
CORNELL UNIVERSITY-ENDOWED COLLEGES 3577 393 0.11
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY 6650 710 0.11
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY 816 90 0.11
RICE UNIVERSITY 716 74 0.1
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY 790 77 0.1
YALE UNIVERSITY 1339 133 0.1
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE 605 62 0.1
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 1797 165 0.09
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI 2155 201 0.09
SUNY AT BINGHAMTON 2285 195 0.09
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1194 103 0.09
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SANTA CRUZ 3053 261 0.09
TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY 7914 738 0.09
CLARK UNIVERSITY 449 40 0.09
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER 931 76 0.08
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE 1064 80 0.08
STANFORD UNIVERSITY 1713 131 0.08
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND-COLLEGE PARK 5959 460 0.08
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST LOUIS 1634 124 0.08
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON-SEATTLE CAMPUS 7194 585 0.08
COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY 1418 109 0.08
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SANTA BARBARA 4564 351 0.08
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY-NEW BRUNSWICK 5734 451 0.08
EMORY UNIVERSITY 1480 98 0.07
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER 5196 349 0.07
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN 8917 623 0.07
DUKE UNIVERSITY 1539 101 0.07
BROWN UNIVERSITY 1490 103 0.07
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 7783 548 0.07
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY 2296 164 0.07
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 6763 490 0.07
MIAMI UNIVERSITY-OXFORD 3784 248 0.07
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIV 4876 294 0.06
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 1288 83 0.06
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 1114 71 0.06
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 5769 370 0.06
INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON 6172 348 0.06
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA 4086 238 0.06
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY 4523 255 0.06
WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY 1000 64 0.06
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 2797 157 0.06
TUFTS UNIVERSITY 1336 79 0.06
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT 3673 189 0.05
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY-MAIN CAMPUS 1614 79 0.05
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR 5923 325 0.05
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES 6049 316 0.05
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 1804 99 0.05
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY-MAIN CAMPUS 8288 398 0.05
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-MAIN CAMPUS 3207 150 0.05
BOSTON COLLEGE 2223 111 0.05
TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 1452 76 0.05
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY 1261 66 0.05
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY 1123 53 0.05
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY 6829 324 0.05
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY 3020 143 0.05
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 352 15 0.04
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY 1670 59 0.04
AUBURN UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS 3917 176 0.04
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE 3392 143 0.04
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 1993 82 0.04
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 1999 75 0.04
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME 2052 90 0.04
BOSTON UNIVERSITY 3991 171 0.04
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY-MAIN CAMPUS 9134 359 0.04
THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE 4035 151 0.04
PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY 800 22 0.03
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 2798 95 0.03
RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE 1319 39 0.03
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA 4015 117 0.03
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 4344 135 0.03
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY 1397 44 0.03
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY 1549 54 0.03
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY 1514 40 0.03
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH-MAIN CAMPUS 3861 114 0.03
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 8574 277 0.03
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY-MAIN CAMPUS 2594 71 0.03
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY 4492 86 0.02
PURDUE UNIVERSITY-MAIN CAMPUS 6242 145 0.02
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY 1604 33 0.02
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 1291 16 0.01</p>

11

<p>Arizona State University
University of Arizona
University of Washington
Washington State University
Western Washington University
University of Oregon
Oregon State University
University of Colorado-Boulder
Colorado State University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Drexel University
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia</p>

<p>Can someone please tell me what colleges (on that list) would be good for biology? Ranking them would be very helpful also.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

12

<p>EDIT: I just made a new thread..didn't want to steal this one..</p>