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Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools

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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.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Stanford University

#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

The excellent master’s degree programs at Northwestern University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best physical sciences schools in the United States. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Physical Sciences at Northwestern University Report

Out of the 150 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois Institute of Technology landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Rochester Institute of Technology. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools 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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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 college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin

#6

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago ranked #6 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Chicago

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.

Full Physical Sciences at Northeastern University Report

#8

University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ

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 very large public school located in the city of Tucson.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Arizona

#9

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

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 college with a fairly large student population.

Full Physical Sciences at Cornell University Report

#10

University of Houston

Houston, TX

With a ranking of #10, University of Houston did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. UH is a very large public school located in the large city of Houston.

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University of California - Santa Barbara ranked #11 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Barbara

#12

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Johns Hopkins 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 #12 on the list. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Johns Hopkins University

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

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

#14

University of Delaware

Newark, DE

University of Delaware ranked #14 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Newark, UD is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Physical Sciences at University of Delaware Report

University of California - Berkeley 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 #15 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - Berkeley Report

With a ranking of #16, University of Maryland - College Park did quite well on this year’s best schools for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. UMCP is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of College Park.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Maryland - College Park

#17

University of Wyoming

Laramie, WY

University of Wyoming landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree physical sciences programs. UW is a large public school located in the remote town of Laramie.

Full Physical Sciences at University of Wyoming Report

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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 #18 on the list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population.

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Texas A&M University - Kingsville ranked #19 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Texas A&M Kingsville is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Kingsville.

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Texas A&M University - College Station ranked #20 on this year’s Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools list. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the city of College Station.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Texas A&M University - College Station

University of Wisconsin - Madison 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 #21 on the list. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school 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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