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Major · Science Technologies

Run the bench work behind biology and biotech — an applied-science track into lab technician roles

Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician prepares students to support biologists and biotechnologists in research, industrial, and government labs. About 325 degrees are awarded annually across 87 colleges — overwhelmingly at the associate's level, though a handful of bachelor's-degree programs exist. Completers report a five-year median around $77,534.

Schools offering
87
Annual completions
325
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$78k

About this major

Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician is an applied-science program that trains students to support biologists and biotechnologists in research, industrial, and government laboratories. Coursework moves quickly into the technical craft: fermentation technology, cell culturing, protein purification, assaying and testing, chromatography and bioseparation, industrial microbiology, genetic technology, and quality control — all alongside hazardous-materials safety and computer applications. The orientation is practical. Students learn to run experiments, tend instruments, and document results to regulated standards rather than to design the underlying science.

This is a technician track, and that frames who it is for. Most of the program's 87 offerings are associate's programs, with a handful of bachelor's options such as Pennsylvania State University's main campus. Students who gravitate here tend to enjoy bench work, careful procedure, and the tangible rhythm of experiments — and who want to be employed in a lab within two to four years rather than spending eight-plus years on a research-scientist trajectory. The curriculum's cross-reference to clinical/medical laboratory technician programs signals the overlap: both paths produce people who do the hands-on work that keeps labs running.

About 325 degrees are awarded annually across those 87 colleges, with the largest cohorts at Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts (42 per year), Penn State main campus (27), and Montgomery College in Maryland (23). The primary career destination is biological technician, a role with a $52,000 median wage and 3.5% projected growth — steady rather than booming, clustered in pharma, biotech, agricultural research, and university and government labs. Five-year median earnings for completers run around $77,534, with associate's holders ($82,378) running slightly ahead of bachelor's holders ($75,919), a pattern that suggests the associate's is landing technician jobs efficiently while some bachelor's graduates are rerouting toward broader science roles.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Biological technicians $52k +3.5% Bachelor's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$78k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$82k

Bachelor's

$76k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if the tactile side of science is what draws you — the satisfaction of getting a PCR to work, a culture to grow, or a separation to resolve cleanly — and you would rather be in a lab within two to four years than spend most of a decade becoming a research scientist; you are comfortable following protocols precisely while still enjoying the judgment calls inside them; you want a credential that maps onto specific job titles like biological technician, which posts a $52,000 median wage and 3.5% projected growth; you are drawn to the biotech sector specifically — pharma, cell therapy, diagnostics — and recognize that most hiring clusters around hubs like Boston, the Research Triangle, the Bay Area, and Maryland; and you see the associate's-heavy shape of the program (87 colleges, mostly associate's, a five-year median around $82,378 for associate's holders) as a feature rather than a ceiling.

Think twice if what you actually want is to design experiments rather than execute them — a biology, biochemistry, or biomedical sciences bachelor's, followed by graduate work, is the path for scientist roles and eventually principal-investigator jobs, and this technician track will not substitute for that; think twice if you hope this degree opens medical school or PhD programs directly, since it is structured around applied technique rather than the upper-division science coursework those programs expect; and think twice if you are geographically rooted away from biotech corridors — annual completions of 325 concentrated in a handful of hub states suggest the employment picture is meaningfully tied to where the industry is clustered.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Middlesex Community College Bedford, MA 42 0 42
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA 0 27 27
Montgomery College Rockville, MD 23 0 23
Valencia College Orlando, FL 16 0 16
Del Mar College Corpus Christi, TX 13 0 13
Lone Star College System The Woodlands, TX 11 0 11
Bucks County Community College Newtown, PA 9 0 9
Pitt Community College Winterville, NC 9 0 9
Finger Lakes Community College Canandaigua, NY 8 0 8
Hillsborough Community College Tampa, FL 8 0 8
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Industrial Technology/Technician

1,933 completions/yr

Chemical Technology/Technician

1,095 completions/yr

Instrumentation Technology/Technician

1,036 completions/yr

Biomedical Technology/Technician

652 completions/yr

Architectural Technology/Technician

647 completions/yr

Communications Technology/Technician

458 completions/yr

Robotics Technology/Technician

218 completions/yr

Forest Technology/Technician

184 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do biology/biotechnology technology majors actually study?
Coursework centers on standard laboratory practice rather than pure biology theory. Students work through fermentation technology, cell culturing, protein purification, chromatography, genetic technology, and quality control, alongside laboratory and hazardous-materials safety and computer applications. Most programs are associate's-track, so the balance leans heavily toward hands-on bench skills — learning to run assays, maintain instruments, and document results to industry standards rather than designing original experiments.
Is this the same as a biology bachelor's?
No — and the difference matters. This is a technician program: 87 colleges offer it, most at the associate's level, and the training targets laboratory technician work rather than a research-scientist trajectory. A biology or biochemistry bachelor's is a different path that keeps open options like research, medical school, or graduate study. If you want to work in a lab quickly and are drawn to the technical craft of experimentation, this applied track gets you there; if you want to design the experiments, a science bachelor's is the usual entry.
What jobs do graduates typically take?
The primary destination is biological technician, with a $52,000 median wage and projected 3.5% job growth. These are the people running day-to-day experiments in pharma, biotech, agricultural research, university labs, and federal research agencies. With additional experience or credentials, some move into more specialized roles such as quality-control analysts in regulated manufacturing or into clinical/medical laboratory technician work, which is closely cross-referenced in the curriculum.
Is an associate's enough, or should I plan on a bachelor's?
The data here is unusual: associate's completers in this major report a five-year median around $82,378, slightly above the $75,919 figure for bachelor's completers. That suggests associate's holders often land technician jobs directly, while bachelor's graduates may be entering either the same technician roles or transitioning toward adjacent science careers. The biological technician occupation itself lists a bachelor's as typical education, so bachelor's graduates are the baseline hire for many employers — but the associate's remains a viable, lower-cost entry point at many companies, especially in manufacturing-adjacent biotech.
Where is this major concentrated?
Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts leads with 42 annual completions, followed by Penn State's main campus at 27 (the notable bachelor's-heavy program) and Montgomery College in Maryland at 23. The top programs are community colleges clustered in biotech corridors — Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas — where proximity to employers shapes enrollment. Small annual completions at most institutions mean cohort sizes are intimate and internship pipelines often depend on local industry relationships.
How competitive is the job market?
Biological technicians show 3.5% projected growth — roughly in line with the overall economy. Pharma and biotech hiring is cyclical but structurally growing in areas like cell therapy, gene therapy, and bioprocessing, which is reflected in the curriculum's fermentation and bioseparation content. Geographic concentration matters: most hiring happens near biotech hubs, so mobility or a degree near a cluster materially shifts the job picture.