2023 Best Physics Schools
Finding the Best Physics School for You
In 2020-2021, 13,674 people earned a degree or certificate in physics, making the major the #69 most popular in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Physics Schools ranking. This report analyzed 243 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Physics Schools in the United States
Check out the physics programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools in Physics
Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in the United States for physics students. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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The excellent programs at Illinois Institute of Technology helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best physics schools in the United States. Illinois Tech is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Rochester Institute of Technology. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. RIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Rochester.
While working on their degree, physics majors at RIT accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Physics Schools list. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Physics majors at UChicago take out an average of $19,972 in student loans while working on their egree.
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University of Arizona ranked #6 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. Located in the city of Tucson, University of Arizona is a public college with a very large student population.
The average amount in student loans that physics majors at University of Arizona take out is $25,653.
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Northeastern University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best physics programs. Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
The average amount in student loans that physics majors at Northeastern take out is $24,000.
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Williams College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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University of California - Santa Barbara landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best physics programs. UCSB is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.
Physics majors at UCSB take out an average of $17,525 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Wake Forest University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #10 on the list. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Winston-Salem.
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University of Wisconsin - River Falls did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #11 on the list. UW - River Falls is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of River Falls.
While working on their degree, physics majors at UW - River Falls accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.
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College of the Holy Cross ranked #12 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Physics majors at Holy Cross take out an average of $26,625 in student loans while working on their egree.
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University of Delaware did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #13 on the list. UD is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Newark.
While working on their degree, physics majors at UD accumulate an average of around $25,899 in student debt.
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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public college with a very large student population.
While working on their degree, physics majors at UMN Twin Cities accumulate an average of around $24,600 in student debt.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #15 on the list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.
On average, physics graduates from UIUC take out $19,750 in student loans while working on their degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $674.
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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best physics programs. Embry-Riddle Prescott is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Prescott.
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Christopher Newport University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Newport News, CNU is a public school with a small student population.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #18 on the list. UW - Madison is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Madison.
On average, physics graduates from UW - Madison take out $18,551 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Iowa State University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. Iowa State is a very large public school located in the small city of Ames.
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With a ranking of #20, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for physics students. Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Ithaca.
While working on their degree, physics majors at Cornell accumulate an average of around $16,050 in student debt.
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University of Maryland - College Park did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public college with a very large student population.
While working on their degree, physics majors at UMCP accumulate an average of around $18,098 in student debt.
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University of Wyoming ranked #22 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. Located in the town of Laramie, UW is a public college with a large student population.
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Union College New York came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Physics Schools ranking. Union College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Schenectady.
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The University of Texas at Austin ranked #24 on this year’s Best Physics Schools list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.
On average, physics graduates from UT Austin take out $21,533 in student loans while working on their degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $193, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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St Olaf College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for physics students. It came in at #25 on the list. St. Olaf is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Northfield.
After completing their degree, physics graduates from St. Olaf carry an average student debtload of $25,000.
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Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Physics students that almost earned our Best Physics Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | Baylor University | Waco, TX |
| 38 | Pacific Lutheran University | Tacoma, WA |
| 39 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach | Daytona Beach, FL |
| 40 | Oklahoma State University - Main Campus | Stillwater, OK |
| 41 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC |
| 42 | Texas A&M University - College Station | College Station, TX |
| 43 | University of North Alabama | Florence, AL |
| 44 | University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN |
| 45 | Millersville University of Pennsylvania | Millersville, PA |
| 46 | University of Nevada - Reno | Reno, NV |
| 47 | University of Virginia - Main Campus | Charlottesville, VA |
| 48 | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA |
Physics by Region
View the Best Physics Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Physics Rankings
Physics Related Rankings by Major
Physics is one of 8 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Physics
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | 21,239 |
| Geological & Earth Sciences | 7,821 |
| General Physical Sciences | 3,823 |
| Astronomy & Astrophysics | 1,375 |
| 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to A. T. Service.
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More about our data sources and methodologies.
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