Astronomy & Astrophysics isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #219 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 25 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for astronomy & astrophysics students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,396 degrees in astronomy & astrophysics to qualified students.
Your choice of astronomy & astrophysics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for astronomy & astrophysics schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The astronomy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the United States
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the astronomy degree levels they offer.
It's difficult to beat University of California - Berkeley if you want to pursue a degree in astronomy & astrophysics. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were approximately 56 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Astronomy & Astrophysics degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley earn a boost of around $14,279 above the average income of astronomy & astrophysics majors.
Columbia University in the City of New York is a good choice for students interested in a degree in astronomy & astrophysics. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were roughly 31 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.
University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in astronomy & astrophysics. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 47 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available.
University of Arizona is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in astronomy & astrophysics. Located in the city of Tucson, University of Arizona is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 26 schools for overall quality in the state of Arizona.
There were about 50 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at University of Arizona in the most recent year we have data available.
Ohio State is a very large public university located in the city of Columbus. This university ranks 1st out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were about 44 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were roughly 35 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 22 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year.
Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Ithaca. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were approximately 9 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year.
UMCP is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of College Park. A Best Colleges rank of #37 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UMCP is a great university overall.
There were about 27 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available.
U-M is a fairly large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were about 28 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
Your choice of astronomy & astrophysics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for astronomy & astrophysics schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
