Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

16 Colleges
$31,694 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. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

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 in the Far Western US Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 16 schools in the Far Western US Region to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for physical sciences students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Far Western US Region

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

Top 10 Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found University of California - Santa Barbara to be the best value school for physical sciences students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the Far Western US Region . Located in the 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.

UCSB excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Nevada - Reno. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list. UNR is a fairly large public school located in the city of Reno.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNR are $22,380 per year.

Read More…

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Berkeley helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value physical sciences schools in the Far Western US Region . Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $29,262 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #3 for overall quality for physical sciences in the Far Western US Region .

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - Berkeley Report

#4

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Stanford University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value physical sciences schools in the Far Western US Region . Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Stanford are $55,011 a year.

Stanford did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Stanford University

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Nevada - Las Vegas helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value physical sciences schools in the Far Western US Region . Located in the city of Las Vegas, UNLV is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNLV are $22,698 per year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of Nevada - Las Vegas Report

University of California - San Diego landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree physical sciences programs. UCSD is a very large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

UCSD graduate students pay an average of $28,666 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - San Diego Report

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Santa Cruz.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Santa Cruz are $28,997 per year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Cruz Report

#8

Oregon State University

Corvallis, OR

Oregon State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Located in the city of Corvallis, Oregon State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Oregon State are $29,420 a year.

Full Physical Sciences at Oregon State University Report

University of California - Riverside came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UCR are $28,569 a year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of California - Riverside

University of California - Los Angeles landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $28,138 in tuition and fees each year.

UCLA excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - Los Angeles Report

Best Physical Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best physical sciences schools for a specific state in the Far Western US region.

State Degrees Awarded
California 8,302
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

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 16 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.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.