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Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor's Degree Schools

2023 Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor's Degree Schools

25 Colleges

Finding the Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 1,375 people earned a degree or certificate in astronomy and astrophysics, making the major the #221 most popular in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 25 schools in the United States to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Northwestern University the best school in the United States for astronomy and astrophysics students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend The University of Texas at Austin. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Out of the 25 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Rochester Institute of Technology landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Rochester, RIT is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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#4

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Chicago is a great place for astronomy and astrophysics students working on their doctor’s degree. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best astronomy and astrophysics schools in the United States. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for astronomy and astrophysics students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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University of Maryland - College Park did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for astronomy and astrophysics students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UMCP is a very large public school located in the suburb of College Park.

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#8

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

With a ranking of #8, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for astronomy and astrophysics students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree astronomy and astrophysics programs. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

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University of Colorado Boulder came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. CU - Boulder is a very large public school located in the city of Boulder.

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Astronomy & Astrophysics by Region

View the Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Astronomy & Astrophysics is one of 8 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 21,239
Physics 13,674
Geological & Earth Sciences 7,821
General Physical Sciences 3,823
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 1,140

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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