2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy in the Far Western US Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 723 people earned their degree in astronomy, making the major the 498th most popular in the United States.

Across the Far Western US region, there were 101 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 51 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,083 and $22,209 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in astronomy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great astronomy programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the astronomy program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Astronomy Schools

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 “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy in the Far Western US Region

#1

San Diego State University

San Diego, California

#1 in overall quality

$14,788 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, San Diego State University landed the #1 spot on the list. San Diego State University is a large public school situated in San Diego, California. It awarded 3 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

SDSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The yearly cost to attend SDSU is $14,788 for far western us region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Astronomy at San Diego State University

#2

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Honolulu, Hawaii

#3 in overall quality

$15,030 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Hawaii at Manoa landed the #2 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Honolulu, Hawaii, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our far western us region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students list, UH Manoa has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Hawaii at Manoa is $15,030 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomical Sciences students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Astronomy at University of Hawaii at Manoa

#3

University of Washington - Seattle Campus

Seattle, Washington

#2 in overall quality

$13,297 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region list. UW Seattle is a large school located in Seattle, Washington that handed out 38 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

UW Seattle did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UW Seattle is $13,297 for far western us region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low student loan default rate of 2.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full UW Seattle Astronomy Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy

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.

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