Physical Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

If you are interested in studying physical sciences, you may want to check out the program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The following information will help you decide if it is a good fit for you.

WPI is located in Worcester, Massachusetts and has a total student population of 6,920. Of the 1,143 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2021, 18 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.

WPI Physical Sciences Degrees Available

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

WPI Physical Sciences Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the physical sciences progam at WPI compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

Note: Although rankings can help you see some information about a school, it's not a good idea to depend on them alone. Be sure to check out other things about the school before making your decision to attend.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The physical sciences major at WPI 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 Doctor’s Degree Schools	150

In 2021, 6 students received their master’s degree in physical sciences from WPI. This makes it the #244 most popular school for physical sciences master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 9 students who received their doctoral degrees in physical sciences, making the school the #151 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Physical Sciences Student Demographics at WPI

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

WPI Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 18 students graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical sciences from WPI. About 50% were men and 50% were women. The typical physical sciences bachelor's degree program is made up of only 43% women. So female students are more repesented at WPI since its program graduates 7% more women than average.

About 72% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in physical sciences at WPI are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	13
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

WPI Physical Sciences Master’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 6 students earned a master's degree in physical sciences from WPI. About 33% of these graduates were women and the other 67% were men.

Of the students who received a physical sciences master's degree from WPI, 67% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level. In the physical sciences master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 33% of degree recipients. That is 2% better than the national average.*

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	4
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

WPI also has a doctoral program available in physical sciences. In 2021, 9 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Physical Sciences

If you plan to be a physical sciences major, you may want to focus your studies on one of the following concentrations. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Physics	25
Chemistry	8

Related Majors

• Mathematics & Statistics
• Biological & Biomedical Sciences
• 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 Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

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 Runningonbrains under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.