Physics at University of California - Los Angeles

Every physics school has its own distinct culture and strengths. We've pulled together some statistics and other details to help you see how the physics program at University of California - Los Angeles stacks up to those at other schools.

UCLA is located in Los Angeles, California and has a total student population of 44,589. Of the 10,102 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from University of California - Los Angeles in 2021, 79 of them were physics majors.

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

UCLA Physics Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Physics
• Master’s Degree in Physics
• Doctorate Degree in Physics

UCLA Physics Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the physics progam at UCLA compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

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 physics major at UCLA is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Physics. 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 Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	8
Most Popular Physics Master’s Degree Schools	20
Most Focused Physics Master’s Degree Schools	77
	143
Most Focused Physics Schools	216

In 2021, 21 students received their master’s degree in physics from UCLA. This makes it the #20 most popular school for physics master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 23 students who received their doctoral degrees in physics, making the school the #13 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Earnings of UCLA Physics Graduates

The median salary of physics students who receive their bachelor's degree at UCLA is $42,865. This is great news for graduates of the program, since this figure is 11% higher than the national average of $38,470 for all physics bachelor's degree recipients.

Physics Student Demographics at UCLA

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the physics majors at University of California - Los Angeles.

UCLA Physics Bachelor’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 79 students earned a bachelor's degree in physics from UCLA. About 20% of these graduates were women and the other 80% were men.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 6% more racial-ethnic minorities in its physics bachelor's program than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from University of California - Los Angeles with a bachelor's in physics.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	13
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	8
White	24
International Students	25
Other Races/Ethnicities	8

UCLA Physics Master’s Program

Of the 21 students who earned a master's degree in Physics from UCLA in 2020-2021, 100% were men and 0% were women.

Of the students who received a physics master's degree from UCLA, 71% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from University of California - Los Angeles with a master's in physics.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	4
White	15
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

UCLA also has a doctoral program available in physics. In 2021, 23 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

• Materials Sciences
• Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology
• Geological & Earth Sciences
• Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Chemistry

Careers That Physics Grads May Go Into

A degree in physics can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for CA, the home state for University of California - Los Angeles.

Occupation	Jobs in CA	Average Salary in CA
High School Teachers	112,960	$80,510
Natural Sciences Managers	7,870	$168,790
Physicists	3,200	$115,970
Physics Postsecondary Professors	1,190	$138,250

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 Nikhil Kulkarni under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.