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Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California

10 Colleges
$70,619 Avg Salary

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

Physical Sciences is the #17 most popular major in California with 8,302 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in California to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for physical sciences majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Top 10 Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in California for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

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Out of the 10 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Barbara landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college 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 University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college 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 University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCSD is a very large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Santa Cruz. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in the city of Santa Cruz.

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With a ranking of #6, University of California - Riverside did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public school with a very large student population.

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University of California - Irvine ranked #7 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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University of California - Los Angeles came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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With a ranking of #9, California Institute of Technology did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Caltech is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Pasadena.

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University of California - Davis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a very large student population.

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Best Physical Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Physical Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 1,936
Oregon 606
Hawaii 107
Nevada 315
Alaska 60

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

Majors Similar to Physical Sciences

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 10 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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