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Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

6 Colleges
$32,969 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$70,619 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree School for You

Physical Sciences is the #20 most popular major in Illinois with 1,686 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

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 Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 6 schools in Illinois 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.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality for a Doctorate in Physical Sciences

Our 2023 rankings named University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign the best value school in Illinois for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIUC are $17,823 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UIUC is ranked #4 for overall quality for physical sciences in Illinois.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. NIU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. UIC is a very large public school located in the city of Chicago.

UIC graduate students pay an average of $17,277 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Illinois Institute of Technology helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value physical sciences schools in Illinois. Located in the large city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois Tech are $30,822 per year.

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#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Northwestern are $56,567 a year.

Northwestern did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Full Physical Sciences at Northwestern University Report

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#6

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #6, University of Chicago did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UChicago are $63,936 per year.

UChicago did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

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Best Value Physical Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Physical Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 951
Michigan 1,288
Ohio 1,581
Wisconsin 873

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 6 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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