Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Cruz

If you are interested in studying physical sciences, you may want to check out the program at University of California - Santa Cruz. The following information will help you decide if it is a good fit for you.

UC Santa Cruz is located in Santa Cruz, California and approximately 19,161 students attend the school each year. In 2021, 274 physical sciences majors received their bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz.

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.

UC Santa Cruz Physical Sciences Degrees Available

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

UC Santa Cruz Physical Sciences Rankings

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

Note: While rankings may be a good starting point when you're researching a school, they don't necessarily highlight all of a school's strengths. Don't forget to check out the other details that are available for a school to see if it has what you're looking for in a program.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The physical sciences major at UC Santa Cruz 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 Master’s Degree Schools	50
	82
Best Physical Sciences Schools	99
Best Value Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	210

In 2021, 34 students received their master’s degree in physical sciences from UC Santa Cruz. This makes it the #51 most popular school for physical sciences master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 35 students who received their doctoral degrees in physical sciences, making the school the #63 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Physical Sciences Student Demographics at UC Santa Cruz

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the physical sciences majors at University of California - Santa Cruz.

UC Santa Cruz Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Program

Of the 274 students who earned a bachelor's degree in Physical Sciences from UC Santa Cruz in 2020-2021, 66% were men and 34% were women.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 16% 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 University of California - Santa Cruz with a bachelor's in physical sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	39
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	67
White	124
International Students	12
Other Races/Ethnicities	30

UC Santa Cruz Physical Sciences Master’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 34 physical sciences majors earned their master's degree from UC Santa Cruz. Of these graduates, 56% were men and 44% were women.

In the physical sciences master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 35% of degree recipients. That is 3% better than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from University of California - Santa Cruz with a master's in physical sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	5
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	4
White	13
International Students	6
Other Races/Ethnicities	6

UC Santa Cruz also has a doctoral program available in physical sciences. In 2021, 35 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Physical Sciences

Physical Sciences majors may want to concentrate their studies in one of these areas. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from University of California - Santa Cruz. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Physics	95
Chemistry	93
Astronomy & Astrophysics	76
Geological & Earth Sciences	65
General Physical Sciences	14

Related Majors

• Agriculture & Agriculture Operations
• Mathematics & Statistics
• Engineering
• Natural Resources & Conservation
• Biological & Biomedical Sciences

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 CA, the home state for University of California - Santa Cruz.

Occupation	Jobs in CA	Average Salary in CA
High School Teachers	112,960	$80,510
Architectural and Engineering Managers	31,580	$175,010
Environmental Scientists and Specialists	12,750	$91,890
Chemists	10,430	$88,570
Natural Sciences Managers	7,870	$168,790

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 Satyriconi under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.