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2023 Best Value Physics Master's Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

141 Colleges
$19,322 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$89,430 Avg Salary

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.

2023 Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

Check out the physics master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

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 very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Provo.

BYU graduate students pay an average of $7,700 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, BYU is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list.

Full Physics at Brigham Young University - Provo Report

Out of the 141 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the # 2 spot on the list. WIU is a medium-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.

Read full report on Physics at Western Illinois University

#3

University of Wyoming

Laramie, WY

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 town of Laramie, UW is a public college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UW are $17,569 per year.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Delaware. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. UD is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Newark.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UD are $18,128 per 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.

Read More…

#5

University of Houston

Houston, TX

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Houston. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Houston, UH is a public school with a very large student population.

UH graduate students pay an average of $18,871 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Physics at University of Houston

#6

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

Texas Tech University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Texas Tech is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Lubbock.

Texas Tech graduate students pay an average of $17,698 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physics at Texas Tech University Report

#7

Christopher Newport University

Newport News, VA

Christopher Newport 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 #7 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Newport News, CNU is a public college with a small student population.

CNU graduate students pay an average of $21,420 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physics at Christopher Newport University Report

University of North Texas 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 #8 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Denton, UNT is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNT are $15,600 per year.

Full Physics at University of North Texas Report

Northern Illinois 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 #9 on the list. 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.

Read full report on Physics at Northern Illinois University

#10

Towson University

Towson, MD

Towson University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Towson, Towson is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Towson graduate students pay an average of $19,890 in tuition and fees each year.

Towson excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Physics at Towson University

#11

Wichita State University

Wichita, KS

With a ranking of #11, Wichita State 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 Wichita, WSU is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at WSU are $15,323 per year.

Full Physics at Wichita State University Report

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. 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 landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. 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.

UT Austin 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.

Full Physics at The University of Texas at Austin Report

#14

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

Northeastern University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Northeastern are $26,095 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Northeastern also did well on our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Physics at Northeastern University Report

Illinois Institute of Technology 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 #15 on the list. 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.

Read More…

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 very large public school located in the city of Madison.

UW - Madison graduate students pay an average of $25,501 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UW - Madison also is in the top 5% of our Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Read full report on Physics at University of Wisconsin - Madison

Bowling Green State University - Main Campus came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the fringe town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public college with a large student population.

BGSU graduate students pay an average of $15,823 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physics at Bowling Green State University - Main Campus Report

#18

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SDSU are $19,074 a year.

Full Physics at San Diego State University Report

University of Akron Main Campus landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physics programs. University of Akron Main Campus is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Akron.

University of Akron Main Campus graduate students pay an average of $11,936 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Physics at University of Akron Main Campus

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 fairly large public school located in the town of Athens.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 per year.

Read full report on Physics at Ohio University - Athens Campus

California State University - Long Beach ranked #21 on this year’s Best Value Physics Master’s Degree Schools list. CSULB is a very 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.

Full Physics at California State University - Long Beach Report

Honorable Mentions

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

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.

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