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2023 Best Engineering & Applied Physics Colleges for Veterans in the Southwest Region

7 Ranked Colleges
72 Degrees Awarded
$30,200 Avg Cost*
Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, veterans have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 994 people earned their degree in engineering and applied physics, making the major the 448th most popular in the United States.

Across the Southwest region, there were 72 engineering and applied physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in engineering and applied physics. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great engineering and applied physics programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as veteran satisfaction, veteran affordability, and overall quality of the engineering and applied physics program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Engineering & Applied Physics Schools

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When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics” list to help you make the college decision.

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.

Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics”.

Top 7 Best Engineering & Applied Physics Colleges for Veterans in the Southwest Region

1

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Oklahoma Norman Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics. University of Oklahoma Norman Campus is located in Norman, Oklahoma and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 5 ’s applied physics degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our southwest region vets studying applied physics list, University of Oklahoma has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 27,772 students enrolled at University of Oklahoma Norman Campus, 12 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 10 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $3,720. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. University of Oklahoma Norman Campus offers credit for military training for eligible students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Veteran Student Life Report

2

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Arizona State University - Tempe. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics list. ASU - Tempe is a large school located in Tempe, Arizona that handed out 3 ’s applied physics degrees in 2020-2021.

ASU - Tempe not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Among the 74,795 students enrolled at ASU - Tempe, 7,566 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 3,828 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $6,068. During this same period, 672 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full ASU - Tempe Veteran Student Life Report

3
University of Arizona crest
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Arizona. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics list. Located in Tucson, Arizona, this large public school awarded 4 degrees to qualified ’s applied physics students in 2020-2021.

University of Arizona not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Among the 45,601 students enrolled at University of Arizona, 2,131 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1,478 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $8,880. In addition to receiving other benefits, 31 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

[Read full report on veteran student life at University of Arizona]](/colleges/university-of-arizona/student-life/veterans/)

4

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Central Oklahoma. The school came in at #4 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics. UCO is located in Edmond, Oklahoma and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 5 ’s applied physics degrees to qualified students.

UCO not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Our most recent data shows that 934 of the 14,132 students enrolled at University of Central Oklahoma were GI Bill® students, of which 428 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $6,062. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Full UCO Veteran Student Life Report

5
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, Texas

Out of the 7 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics that were part of this year’s ranking, Rice University landed the #5 spot on the list. This medium-sized school is located in Houston, Texas, and it awarded 10 ’s applied physics degrees in 2020-2021.

Rice also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Of the 7,643 students enrolled at Rice University, 157 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 80 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $18,656. To help with additional expenses, 68 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

[Read full report on veteran student life at Rice]](/colleges/rice-university/student-life/veterans/)

6

With a ranking of #6, New Mexico State University - Main Campus did quite well on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics list. Las Cruces, New Mexico is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s applied physics degrees to 6 students in 2020-2021.

NMSU Main Campus also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, New Mexico State University - Main Campus supports 14,227 students, and 620 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 285 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $3,880. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Read More…

7
University of Tulsa crest
University of Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma

University of Tulsa came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Applied Physics ranking. This small school is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and it awarded 4 ’s applied physics degrees in 2020-2021.

University of Tulsa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Our most recent data shows that 119 of the 3,960 students enrolled at University of Tulsa were GI Bill® students, of which 62 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $17,162. During this same period, 19 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read More…

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

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