2023 Best Value Colleges for Astronomy in the New England Region (With Aid)

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools in the New England Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

Astronomy is the 479th most popular major in the country with 765 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the New England region, there were 62 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools in the New England Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in astronomy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality astronomy programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the astronomy program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Astronomy Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools in the New England Region For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools in the New England Region For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools in the New England Region For Those Getting Aid.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Astronomy in the New England Region (With Aid)

1

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$22,038 Average Net Price

$47,385 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Massachusetts Amherst. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools in the New England Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Massachusetts Amherst is a large school located in Amherst, Massachusetts that handed out 20 ’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

UMass Amherst not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Astronomy Schools in the New England Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for UMass Amherst is $22,038 for New England Region Astronomical Sciences students with aid.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Full UMass Amherst Astronomy Report

2

Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts

#1 in overall quality

$30,395 Average Net Price

$55,473 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Boston University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools in the New England Region For Those Getting Aid list. Boston University is a large school located in Boston, Massachusetts that handed out 18 ’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

Boston U also took the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Boston U is $30,395 for new england region astronomical sciences students with aid.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full Boston U Astronomy Report

• Best Value Colleges for Astronomy (With Aid)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.