Physical Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

If you plan to study physical sciences, take a look at what Massachusetts Institute of Technology has to offer and decide if the program is a good match for you. Get started with the following essential facts.

MIT is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has a total student population of 11,254. Of the 1,249 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2021, 100 of them were physical sciences majors.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Physical Sciences section at the bottom of this page.

MIT Physical Sciences Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Sciences
• Master’s Degree in Physical Sciences
• Doctorate Degree in Physical Sciences

MIT Physical Sciences Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks physical sciences programs across the country. The following shows how MIT performed in these rankings.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The physical sciences major at MIT is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Physical Sciences. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools	46
Most Focused Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	139
Most Focused Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	154
Most Popular Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	172

In 2021, 12 students received their master’s degree in physical sciences from MIT. This makes it the #173 most popular school for physical sciences master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 96 students who received their doctoral degrees in physical sciences, making the school the #4 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Physical Sciences Student Demographics at MIT

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the physical sciences majors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

MIT Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Program

For the most recent academic year available, 58% of physical sciences bachelor's degrees went to men and 42% went to women.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 14% more racial-ethnic minorities in its physical sciences bachelor's program than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor's in physical sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	20
Black or African American	6
Hispanic or Latino	12
White	32
International Students	20
Other Races/Ethnicities	10

MIT Physical Sciences Master’s Program

Of the 12 physical sciences students who graduated with a master's degree in 2020-2021 from MIT, about 58% were men and 42% were women.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a master's in physical sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	6
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	3

MIT also has a doctoral program available in physical sciences. In 2021, 96 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Physical Sciences

The following physical sciences concentations are available at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Physics	116
Chemistry	60
Geological & Earth Sciences	25
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	5
Astronomy & Astrophysics	2

Related Majors

• Biological & Biomedical Sciences
• Architecture & Related Services
• Mathematics & Statistics
• Computer & Information Sciences
• Engineering

Careers That Physical Sciences Grads May Go Into

A degree in physical sciences can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for MA, the home state for Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Occupation	Jobs in MA	Average Salary in MA
High School Teachers	26,420	$80,020
Architectural and Engineering Managers	8,190	$156,250
Natural Sciences Managers	4,040	$183,490
Chemists	2,890	$94,270
Environmental Scientists and Specialists	1,950	$82,580

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By InSapphoWeTrust under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.