2023 Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Physical Sciences Master'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.
The Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 150 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the physical sciences master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 15% Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools
Our analysis found Stanford University to be the best school for physical sciences students who want to pursue a master’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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Out of the 150 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Illinois Institute of Technology helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best physical sciences schools in the United States. Located in the large city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
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Out of the 150 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Rochester Institute of Technology landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Rochester, RIT is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population.
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University of Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.
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Northeastern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston.
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University of Arizona came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. University of Arizona is a fairly large public school located in the city of Tucson.
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Cornell University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. 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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University of Houston did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. UH is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Houston.
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With a ranking of #11, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a very large student population.
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Johns Hopkins University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.
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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.
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University of Delaware ranked #14 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Newark, UD is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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University of California - Berkeley landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Maryland - College Park did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. UMCP is a very large public school located in the large suburb of College Park.
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University of Wyoming ranked #17 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. UW is a large public school located in the town of Laramie.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population.
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Texas A&M University - Kingsville came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Texas A&M Kingsville is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Kingsville.
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Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a very large student population.
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Drexel University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Drexel is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
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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 Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | Iowa State University | Ames, IA |
| 24 | Illinois State University | Normal, IL |
| 25 | Oklahoma State University - Main Campus | Stillwater, OK |
| 26 | Temple University | Philadelphia, PA |
| 27 | Baylor University | Waco, TX |
| 28 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI |
| 29 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC |
| 30 | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA |
Physical Sciences by Region
View the Best Physical Sciences 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 Physical Sciences Rankings
Physical Sciences Related Rankings by Major
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 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| 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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