Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

What traits are you looking for in a physics school? To help you decide if Worcester Polytechnic Institute is right for you, we've gathered the following information about the school's physics program.

WPI is located in Worcester, Massachusetts and approximately 6,920 students attend the school each year. Of the 1,143 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2021, 13 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.

WPI Physics Degrees Available

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

WPI Physics Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the physics progam at WPI 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 WPI 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	14

In 2021, 5 students received their master’s degree in physics from WPI. This makes it the #111 most popular school for physics master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 7 students who received their doctoral degrees in physics, making the school the #85 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Physics Student Demographics at WPI

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

WPI Physics Bachelor’s Program

For the most recent academic year available, 54% of physics bachelor's degrees went to men and 46% went to women. The typical physics bachelor's degree program is made up of only 24% women. So female students are more repesented at WPI since its program graduates 22% more women than average.

About 69% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in physics 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 physics.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	9
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

WPI Physics Master’s Program

Of the 5 physics students who graduated with a master's degree in 2020-2021 from WPI, about 60% were men and 40% were women.

Of the students who received a physics master's degree from WPI, 60% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level. In the physics master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 40% of degree recipients. That is 11% 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 physics.

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

WPI also has a doctoral program available in physics. In 2021, 7 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

• 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 MA, the home state for Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Occupation	Jobs in MA	Average Salary in MA
High School Teachers	26,420	$80,020
Natural Sciences Managers	4,040	$183,490
Physics Postsecondary Professors	550	$116,470
Physicists	360	$150,170

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.