2023 Best Value Physics Master's Degree Schools
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Physics Master's Degree 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.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Physics Master's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 141 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for physics students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 15% Best Physics Master's Degree Schools
Our analysis found Brigham Young University - Provo to be the best value school for physics students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. BYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Provo.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at BYU are $7,700 per year.
BYU also claimed a spot on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Western Illinois University is a great value for physics students working on their master’s degree. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.
WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wyoming. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the remote town of Laramie, UW is a public school with a fairly large student population.
UW graduate students pay an average of $17,569 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Delaware. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. UD is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Newark.
UD graduate students pay an average of $18,128 in tuition and fees each year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UD also is in the top 10% of our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking.
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Out of the 141 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Houston landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Houston, UH is a public school with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UH are $18,871 per year.
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With a ranking of #6, Texas Tech University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physics students working on their master’s degree. Texas Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Lubbock.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Texas Tech are $17,698 a year.
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Christopher Newport University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Newport News, CNU is a public school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at CNU are $21,420 per year.
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University of North Texas landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. Located in the city of Denton, UNT is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UNT are $15,600 a year.
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Northern Illinois University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at NIU are $11,390 a year.
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Towson University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Towson, Towson is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Towson are $19,890 a year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Towson is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list.
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Wichita State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. Located in the city of Wichita, WSU is a public school with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WSU are $15,323 a year.
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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UT Rio Grande Valley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Edinburg.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UT Rio Grande Valley are $15,677 a year.
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The University of Texas at Austin ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, UT Austin is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list.
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With a ranking of #14, Northeastern University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physics students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Northeastern are $26,095 a year.
Northeastern excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list.
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Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. Illinois Tech is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois Tech are $30,822 per year.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. UW - Madison is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Madison.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UW - Madison are $25,501 per year.
UW - Madison excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list.
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Bowling Green State University - Main Campus ranked #17 on this year’s Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the fringe town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at BGSU are $15,823 a year.
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San Diego State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physics students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SDSU are $19,074 a year.
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University of Akron Main Campus came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. University of Akron Main Campus is a fairly large public school located in the city of Akron.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,936 a year.
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With a ranking of #20, Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physics students working on their master’s degree. OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the town of Athens.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 a year.
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With a ranking of #21, California State University - Long Beach did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physics students working on their master’s degree. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the city of Long Beach.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at CSULB are $17,784 a year.
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These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Physics Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA |
| 23 | University of Nevada - Reno | Reno, NV |
| 24 | East Carolina University | Greenville, NC |
| 25 | Texas A&M University - College Station | College Station, TX |
| 26 | Iowa State University | Ames, IA |
| 26 | University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ |
| 26 | Oklahoma State University - Main Campus | Stillwater, OK |
Physics by Region
View the Best Value Physics Master'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 |
More Physics Rankings
Majors Related to Physics
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.
- 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.
More about our data sources and methodologies.