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Best Biology Schools Near Athens, GA (2026)
Updated September 6, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Athens, Georgia has 5 accredited schools offering biology programs. Athens has a population of about 137,582. In Georgia, the top-earning biology-related role is Medical Scientist at a median $92,450 annually (BLS, May 2025).
Closest Biology Schools to Athens
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer biology programs near Athens, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Athens city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Athens.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Georgia schools on the Georgia biology page.
Biology Wages Near Athens
Athens is part of the Athens-Clarke County, GA metro area (BLS area code 12020). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Georgia statewide.
Occupation
Median Wage
Source
COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Medical Scientist
$92,450
GA statewide
$99,089
Biological Technician
$64,360
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$68,982
Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist
$66,210
GA statewide
$70,965
Soil and Plant Scientist
$65,170
GA statewide
$69,850
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
How many accredited biology schools are near Athens, GA?
Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering biology programs near Athens. The closest is University of Georgia in Athens, GA (0.5 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Piedmont University (43.6 miles). 5 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
What are the highest-paying biology roles near Athens?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying biology-related roles near Athens are: Medical Scientist ($92,450), Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist ($66,210), Soil and Plant Scientist ($65,170). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Georgia statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Winder instead of Athens?
Winder, GA is 20.4 miles from Athens and has its own set of local biology programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 6, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
