Physics at University of Pennsylvania

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 Pennsylvania stacks up to those at other schools.

UPenn is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has a total student population of 26,552. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 48 students received a bachelor's degree in physics from UPenn.

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

UPenn Physics Degrees Available

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

UPenn Physics Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the physics progam at UPenn 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 UPenn 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 Focused Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools	55

In 2021, 32 students received their master’s degree in physics from UPenn. This makes it the #9 most popular school for physics master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 16 students who received their doctoral degrees in physics, making the school the #37 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Physics Student Demographics at UPenn

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

UPenn Physics Bachelor’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 48 students graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics from UPenn. About 73% were men and 27% were women. The typical physics bachelor's degree program is made up of only 24% women. So female students are more repesented at UPenn since its program graduates 3% more women than average.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 5% 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 Pennsylvania with a bachelor's in physics.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	9
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	23
International Students	9
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

UPenn Physics Master’s Program

Of the 32 students who earned a master's degree in Physics from UPenn in 2020-2021, 75% were men and 25% were women.

Of the students who received a physics master's degree from UPenn, 56% 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 Pennsylvania with a master's in physics.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	18
International Students	9
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

UPenn also has a doctoral program available in physics. In 2021, 16 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

• Geological & Earth Sciences
• 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 PA, the home state for University of Pennsylvania.

Occupation	Jobs in PA	Average Salary in PA
High School Teachers	50,460	$64,830
Natural Sciences Managers	4,480	$147,810
Physics Postsecondary Professors	770	$98,870
Physicists	320	$137,060

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 WestCoastivieS under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.