Best Biological Technician programs in Iowa, ranked by enrollment
Assist biological and medical scientists. Set up, operate, and maintain laboratory instruments and equipment, monitor experiments, collect data and samples, make observations, and calculate and record results.
40 schools in Iowa run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,260 people a year. The job pays a median of $48,050 in Iowa across about 800 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Iowa that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
11 programs in Iowa that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Iowa (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Iowa page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biology/Biological Sciences, Generalmain feeder CIP 26.0101In Iowa → | 732 | 58.1% | 39 | $32,152 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 26.0202In Iowa → | 180 | 14.3% | 11 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 3 | Neurosciencemain feeder CIP 26.1501In Iowa → | 89 | 7.1% | 9 | $31,687 | $22,936 |
| 4 | Biomedical Sciences, Generalmain feeder CIP 26.0102In Iowa → | 87 | 6.9% | 6 | $32,152 | $25,000 |
| 5 | CIP 26.0502In Iowa → | 67 | 5.3% | 2 | $38,383 | $22,065 |
| 6 | CIP 26.0801In Iowa → | 46 | 3.7% | 2 | $31,800 | $21,424 |
| 7 | Biostatisticsmain feeder CIP 26.1102In Iowa → | 29 | 2.3% | 1 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 8 | Bioinformaticsmain feeder CIP 26.1103In Iowa → | 10 | 0.8% | 2 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 9 | CIP 26.0204In Iowa → | 10 | 0.8% | 2 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 10 | Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technicianmain feeder CIP 41.0101In Iowa → | 7 | 0.6% | 1 | $38,858 | $12,609 |
| 11 | Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biologymain feeder CIP 26.0406In Iowa → | 3 | 0.2% | 1 | $35,393 | $19,961 |
Top 25 schools in Iowa
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 17 of the 40 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Public · 9 feeder programs | 324 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $34,813 | 75% | — | 84% |
| 2 | Iowa State University Ames, IA Public · 8 feeder programs | 305 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $32,528 | 75% | — | 89% |
| 3 | University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA Public · 3 feeder programs | 84 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,286 | 68% | — | 93% |
| 4 | Grinnell College Grinnell, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 75 | Biochemistry | $38,598 | 88% | $14,470 | 15% |
| 5 | Wartburg College Waverly, IA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 57 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $34,398 | 64% | $20,228 | 76% |
| 6 | Coe College Cedar Rapids, IA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 31 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $41,112 | 66% | $18,153 | 64% |
| 7 | Luther College Decorah, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 31 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $29,359 | 71% | $22,827 | 72% |
| 8 | Morningside University Sioux City, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 29 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $32,620 | 50% | $22,816 | 71% |
| 9 | Saint Ambrose University Davenport, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $30,825 | 61% | $21,680 | 77% |
| 10 | Northwestern College Orange City, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 66% | $22,419 | 80% |
| 11 | Simpson College Indianola, IA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 25 | Biochemistry | — | 63% | $20,710 | 86% |
| 12 | Drake University Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 24 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $41,226 | 74% | $28,855 | 64% |
| 13 | Loras College Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 24 | Biochemistry | — | 68% | $19,227 | 100% |
| 14 | Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 39% | — | — |
| 15 | William Penn University Oskaloosa, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,449 | 33% | $21,533 | 52% |
| 16 | Central College Pella, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 21 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $26,933 | 66% | $19,732 | 86% |
| 17 | Buena Vista University Storm Lake, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $30,682 | 62% | $17,609 | 78% |
| 18 | University of Dubuque Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $31,779 | 40% | $21,324 | 89% |
| 19 | Dordt University Sioux Center, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 70% | $24,569 | 68% |
| 20 | Clarke University Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 56% | $21,417 | 72% |
| 21 | Mount Mercy University Cedar Rapids, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 10 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $32,264 | 58% | $23,054 | 83% |
| 22 | Briar Cliff University Sioux City, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 48% | $21,731 | — |
| 23 | Grand View University Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $43,237 | 54% | $20,840 | 99% |
| 24 | Upper Iowa University Fayette, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $43,311 | 34% | $22,697 | 96% |
| 25 | Des Moines University - Osteopathic Medical Center West Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Biomedical Sciences, General | — | — | — | — |
All 40 schools in Iowa
Every school in Iowa with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Iowa | Iowa City | Public | 324 | 9 |
| Iowa State University | Ames | Public | 305 | 8 |
| University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls | Public | 84 | 3 |
| Grinnell College | Grinnell | Private not-for-profit | 75 | 2 |
| Wartburg College | Waverly | Private not-for-profit | 57 | 3 |
| Coe College | Cedar Rapids | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 3 |
| Luther College | Decorah | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 2 |
| Morningside University | Sioux City | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 2 |
| Saint Ambrose University | Davenport | Private not-for-profit | 27 | 2 |
| Northwestern College | Orange City | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 2 |
| Simpson College | Indianola | Private not-for-profit | 25 | 3 |
| Drake University | Des Moines | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 2 |
| Loras College | Dubuque | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 3 |
| Des Moines Area Community College | Ankeny | Public | 23 | 2 |
| William Penn University | Oskaloosa | Private not-for-profit | 23 | 1 |
What biological technicians earn in Iowa
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $57,510. Iowa pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Iowa
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Biological Technicians page.
How to become a Biological Technician
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Iowa
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 19 majors mapped to Biological Technicians19 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 26.0101Biology/Biological Sciences, General
- 26.0102Biomedical Sciences, General
- 26.0202Biochemistry
- 26.0204Molecular Biology
- 26.0406Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
- 26.0502Microbiology, General
- 26.0503Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
- 26.0508Microbiology and Immunology
- 26.0701Zoology/Animal Biology
- 26.0708Animal Behavior and Ethology
- 26.0709Wildlife Biology
- 26.0801Genetics, General
- 26.1102Biostatistics
- 26.1103Bioinformatics
- 26.1104Computational Biology
- 26.1302Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
- 26.1304Aquatic Biology/Limnology
- 26.1501Neuroscience
- 41.0101Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing biological technicians programs in Iowa.
What degree do you need to become a Biological Technician?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Biology/Biological Sciences, General, which awarded 732 degrees in Iowa in 2024-25, 58.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Biological Technician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 11 programs to this occupation. The largest are Biology, Biochemistry, Neurobiology and Neurosciences, Microbiological Sciences and Immunology, plus 4 more. Together they graduate about 1,260 people a year in Iowa.
How much do biological technicians earn in Iowa?+
The median is $48,050 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 16.4% below the U.S. median of $57,510. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for biological technicians growing?+
BLS projects a +3.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 9,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Iowa?+
40 institutions in Iowa reported graduates from at least one of the 11 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do biological technicians work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Research Associate, Research Technician, Biological Technician, Laboratory Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-4021.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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