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Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools

2023 Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools

150 Colleges
$63,256 Avg Salary

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

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

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 large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

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#2

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 #2 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school 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 Illinois Institute of Technology. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’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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The excellent master’s degree programs at Rochester Institute of Technology helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best physical sciences schools in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Rochester, RIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means The University of Texas at Austin is a great place for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a very large student population.

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#6

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree physical sciences programs. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

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Northeastern University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.

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#8

University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ

University of Arizona 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 #8 on the list. University of Arizona is a fairly large public school located in the city of Tucson.

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#9

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell 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 #9 on the list. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#10

University of Houston

Houston, TX

University of Houston came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UH is a fairly large public school located in the city of Houston.

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University of California - Santa Barbara 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 #11 on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a very large student population.

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#12

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

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

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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

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#14

University of Delaware

Newark, DE

University of Delaware landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the large suburb of Newark, UD is a public school with a very large student population.

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With a ranking of #15, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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University of Maryland - College Park landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree physical sciences programs. UMCP is a very large public school located in the suburb of College Park.

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#17

University of Wyoming

Laramie, WY

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 remote 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 school with a fairly large student population.

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With a ranking of #19, Texas A&M University - Kingsville did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. 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 landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree physical sciences programs. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.

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With a ranking of #21, University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#22

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA

Drexel University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Drexel is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

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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 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

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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