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Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

119 Colleges
$23,865 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$70,619 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physical Sciences Doctor'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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 119 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for physical sciences students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Brigham Young University - Provo to be the best value school for physical sciences students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the United States. Located in the city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

BYU graduate students pay an average of $7,700 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physical Sciences at Brigham Young University - Provo Report

#2

University of Wyoming

Laramie, WY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wyoming. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. UW is a large public school located in the town of Laramie.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UW are $17,569 a year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of Wyoming Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Delaware helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value physical sciences schools in the United States. Located in the suburb of Newark, UD is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UD are $18,128 per year.

UD also claimed a spot on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means The University of Texas at Austin is a great value for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 per year.

UT Austin also claimed a spot on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Physical Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin Report

#4

University of Houston

Houston, TX

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Houston. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. UH is a very large public school located in the city of Houston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UH are $18,871 per year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of Houston Report

With a ranking of #6, Northern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. NIU is a large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.

NIU graduate students pay an average of $11,390 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physical Sciences at Northern Illinois University Report

#7

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

Texas Tech University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Texas Tech are $17,698 per year.

Full Physical Sciences at Texas Tech University Report

University of North Texas landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree physical sciences programs. UNT is a fairly large public school located in the city of Denton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UNT are $15,600 a year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of North Texas

Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the large city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Illinois Tech graduate students pay an average of $30,822 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#10

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

Northeastern University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Northeastern are $26,095 per year.

Full Physical Sciences at Northeastern University Report

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

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSB are $28,683 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCSB is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list.

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

#12

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

With a ranking of #12, San Diego State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. SDSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Diego.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SDSU are $19,074 per year.

Full Physical Sciences at San Diego State University Report

With a ranking of #13, Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the distant town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 per year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #14, Iowa State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the small city of Ames, Iowa State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Iowa State graduate students pay an average of $26,948 in tuition and fees each year.

Iowa State also claimed a spot on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Physical Sciences at Iowa State University Report

With a ranking of #15, University of Nevada - Reno did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. UNR is a fairly large public school located in the city of Reno.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UNR are $22,380 a year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Nevada - Reno

With a ranking of #16, University of Akron Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,936 a year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Akron Main Campus

With a ranking of #17, Oklahoma State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the distant town of Stillwater, OSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at OSU are $24,175 a year.

Full Physical Sciences at Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Report

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 Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
18 Temple University Philadelphia, PA
19 Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL
20 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
21 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
22 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
23 Cornell University Ithaca, NY

Physical Sciences by Region

View the Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor'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.

  • 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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