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Academic Field / Biological Sciences

Microbiology & Immunology

Students study bacteria, viruses, fungi, and the human immune system, including infectious disease mechanisms, vaccine development, and microbial genetics. Graduates typically pursue careers in public health agencies, vaccine development companies, clinical microbiology labs, food safety, and biodefense research. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical importance of microbiologists and immunologists, driving increased funding and career opportunities.

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Schools

Programs analyzed

Earnings

$38,185

Avg 1-yr grad earnings

Range $15,654–$56,071

Outlook

52/100

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

AI Risk

High

51% task exposure

Field Overview

What Microbiology & Immunology graduates do

Your degree in microbiological sciences and immunology opens doors to the lab, the clinic, and the classroom. Many graduates begin as biological technicians, meticulously preparing cell cultures, running assays, and maintaining lab equipment. With an advanced degree, you could become a medical scientist, spending your days designing experiments to understand disease, analyzing complex data, and writing grant proposals to fund your next discovery.

Alternatively, you can pivot into leadership. As a medical and health services manager, you’ll trade your lab coat for spreadsheets, overseeing department budgets, staffing, and regulatory compliance. This management path, along with postsecondary teaching, is seeing the fastest job growth, while some traditional lab science roles face more competition. AI will be a significant partner in your work, automating routine tasks like data analysis and literature review. The jobs aren't disappearing, but your daily focus will change substantially. Your value will shift to interpreting AI-generated insights and leading novel research projects.

Related majors worth comparing: Biochemistry, Cell Biology, and Neuroscience.

Career Trajectories

Where Microbiology & Immunology graduates work

Common career paths for Microbiology & Immunology graduates, with median salaries, projected growth, and AI exposure per role. Roughly 132,600 combined openings per year across these roles.

Role	Median Pay	Annual Openings	10-yr Growth	AI Exposure
Natural sciences managers	$161,180 $114K–$215K	8,500	+3.7%	High · 50%
Medical and health services managers	$117,960 $89K–$162K	62,100	+23.2%	Moderate · 43%
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	$105,620 $74K–$176K	27,400	+17.3%	Moderate · 48%
Medical scientists, except epidemiologists	$100,590 $77K–$134K	9,600	+8.7%	High · 52%
Biological scientists, all other	$93,330 $68K–$121K	4,800	+1.2%	Moderate · 49%
Microbiologists	$87,330 $64K–$121K	1,700	+4.1%	Moderate · 40%
Epidemiologists	$83,980 $68K–$106K	800	+16.2%	Moderate · 44%
Biological science teachers, postsecondary	$83,460 $64K–$125K	5,400	+7.3%	Moderate · 47%
Biological technicians	$52,000 $45K–$66K	9,100	+3.5%	Moderate · 42%
Food science technicians	$49,430 $44K–$61K	3,200	+4.8%	Moderate · 36%

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Top Institutions

Best schools for Microbiology & Immunology

Schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score (earnings × AI resilience × ROI × job-market size). Top 10 of 57.

Rank #1 · DegreeOutlook Score 74

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA · Public

$56,071 1-yr earnings

28.6x ROI multiple

High AI risk

California State University-Long Beach

Long Beach, CA · #2

$48,631/yr · 24.3x ROI

California State University-Northridge

Northridge, CA · #3

$46,489/yr · 24.4x ROI

California State University-Chico

Chico, CA · #4

$49,068/yr · 18.9x ROI

#	School	DW Score	1-yr Earnings	ROI
5	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	66	$46,005	13.8x
6	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI · Public	65	$54,290	14.6x
7	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	64	$49,186	13.5x
8	Weber State University Ogden, UT · Public	63	$41,079	24.5x
9	Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public	61	$43,736	12.8x
10	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	59	$47,331	9.0x
11	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	59	$40,262	14.7x
12	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	58	$55,807	11.6x
13	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	58	$39,521	13.4x
14	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	57	$37,864	14.4x
15	Montana State University Bozeman, MT · Public	57	$37,181	18.6x
16	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	56	$37,610	13.0x
17	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ · Public	56	$37,375	13.1x
18	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	56	$36,403	13.2x
19	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	55	$39,701	11.6x
20	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	55	$39,019	13.5x
21	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	55	$37,610	12.1x
22	San Diego State University San Diego, CA · Public	54	$45,360	12.7x
23	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	54	$40,101	11.5x
24	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK · Public	54	$34,451	16.1x
25	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	53	$37,663	12.6x
26	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	53	$37,592	11.7x
27	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private nonprofit	53	$31,833	23.7x
28	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	52	$50,706	7.5x
29	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	52	$43,761	11.3x
30	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	52	$34,669	12.5x
31	University of South Florida Tampa, FL · Public	52	$32,135	22.3x
32	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	51	$42,433	9.0x
33	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	50	$39,266	13.4x
34	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL · Public	50	$27,994	38.0x
35	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS · Public	49	$43,734	8.3x
36	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	49	$38,726	8.5x
37	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	49	$37,068	8.6x
38	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	48	$40,792	9.1x
39	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV · Public	48	$39,752	10.0x
40	Clemson University Clemson, SC · Public	48	$30,265	11.5x
41	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	48	$27,994	22.7x
42	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	48	$27,445	15.1x
43	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	47	$43,608	6.1x
44	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	47	$43,086	6.6x
45	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA · Public	47	$42,634	6.1x
46	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK · Public	44	$38,040	8.3x
47	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM · Public	44	$36,198	10.1x
48	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX · Public	44	$22,069	15.3x
49	University of Idaho Moscow, ID · Public	43	$36,118	9.2x
50	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	41	$35,523	7.1x
51	University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Mayaguez, PR · Public	40	$22,932	20.1x
52	University of Puerto Rico-Humacao Humacao, PR · Public	39	$26,961	18.1x
53	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA · Public	36	$34,279	3.0x
54	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	34	$32,022	3.6x
55	University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo Arecibo, PR · Public	33	$15,654	14.2x
56	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX · Public	32	$26,218	6.3x
57	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private nonprofit	26	$17,200	1.9x

Explore our Microbiology & Immunology rankings across 57 schools nationwide →

Highest Earnings Top 5

San Francisco State University CA	$56,071
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA	$55,807
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse WI	$54,290
University of California-Berkeley CA	$50,706
University of Wisconsin-Madison WI	$49,186

Best ROI Top 5

University of Florida-Online FL	38.0x
San Francisco State University CA	28.6x
Weber State University UT	24.5x
California State University-Northridge CA	24.4x
California State University-Long Beach CA	24.3x

Related majors

Similar fields of study often offered alongside Microbiology & Immunology.

Biology Biochemistry Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Zoology Neuroscience Physiology Cell Biology Genetics Biotechnology Botany & Plant Biology Pharmacology & Toxicology Bioinformatics

FAQ

Frequently asked about Microbiology & Immunology

What's the typical salary after a Microbiology & Immunology degree?

The median first-year salary across 57 Microbiology & Immunology programs is $38,185. School selection matters — the gap between the lowest ($15,654) and highest ($56,071) earning programs is significant.

Will AI affect Microbiology & Immunology careers?

AI exposure for Microbiology & Immunology is rated "High." With 51% of tasks potentially affected by large language models, most career functions face meaningful automation pressure in the coming decade.

Which school has the best Microbiology & Immunology program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), San Francisco State University ranks #1 for Microbiology & Immunology with a score of 74/100 and graduate earnings of $56,071/yr.

Is a Microbiology & Immunology degree worth the investment?

Typical graduates earn 13.4 times what they paid in tuition within a decade. This is a strong return on investment. Look at per-school ROI in the table above — averages can mask significant variation.