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Best Physical Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools

2023 Best Physical Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools

252 Colleges
$36,876 Avg Salary
$22,933 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Physical Sciences Bachelor's Degree School for You

Physical Sciences is the #19 most popular major in the country with 50,306 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Physical Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 252 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best bachelor's degree programs 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 Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Physical Sciences Bachelor's Degree Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in Physical Sciences

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our analysis found Stanford University to be the best school for physical sciences students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the United States. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

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#3

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Rochester Institute of Technology is a great place for physical sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Rochester, RIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#5

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Chicago helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best physical sciences schools in the United States. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

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With a ranking of #6, Northeastern University did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Northeastern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.

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University of Delaware did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Newark, UD is a public school with a very large student population.

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#8

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Wake Forest University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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Texas A&M University - College Station ranked #9 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the city of College Station.

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The University of Texas at Austin came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#11

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, MA

College of the Holy Cross landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree physical sciences programs. Holy Cross is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Worcester.

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University of California - Berkeley landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#13

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

Williams College landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree physical sciences programs. Williams is a small private not-for-profit school located in the fringe town of Williamstown.

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University of Wisconsin - River Falls came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the town of River Falls, UW - River Falls is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

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With a ranking of #15, University of Maryland - College Park did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. UMCP is a very large public school located in the large suburb of College Park.

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University of California - Santa Barbara ranked #16 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#17

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

With a ranking of #17, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the rural area of Prescott, Embry-Riddle Prescott is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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With a ranking of #19, University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#20

St Olaf College

Northfield, MN

St Olaf College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the town of Northfield, St. Olaf is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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Iowa State University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the small city of Ames, Iowa State is a public school with a very large student population.

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #22 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population.

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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities ranked #23 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public school located in the city of Minneapolis.

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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Daytona Beach, Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#25

University of Wyoming

Laramie, WY

University of Wyoming landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree physical sciences programs. UW is a large public school located in the remote town of Laramie.

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Rest of the Top Best Physical Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools

#26

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN
#27

Union College New York

Schenectady, NY
#28

Lock Haven University

Lock Haven, PA
#29

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA
#32

Wofford College

Spartanburg, SC

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Physical Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
38 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ
39 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD
40 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
41 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
42 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
43 Hope College Holland, MI
44 Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA
45 Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Stillwater, OK
46 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
47 Temple University Philadelphia, PA
48 Smith College Northampton, MA
49 University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI
50 University of Nevada - Reno Reno, NV

Physical Sciences by Region

View the Best Physical Sciences Bachelor'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

Physical Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 21,239
Physics 13,674
Geological & Earth Sciences 7,821
General Physical Sciences 3,823
Astronomy & Astrophysics 1,375
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 1,140
Materials Sciences 658
Other Physical Science 538
Physics and Astronomy 38

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 254,454
Engineering 198,468
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 177,778
Engineering Technologies 85,188
Mathematics & Statistics 52,396

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 NASA.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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