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2022 Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region

5 Ranked Colleges
67 Degrees Awarded
$23,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor's in the Southwest Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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

Across the Southwest region, there were 97 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 67 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,896 and $23,899 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region” ranking looked at 5 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy in the Southwest Region

#1

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, Arizona
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Arizona University landed the #1 spot on the list. Northern Arizona University is a large public school situated in Flagstaff, Arizona. It awarded 5 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NAU, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $12,915 for southwest region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students per year to attend NAU.

Read full report on Astronomy at Northern Arizona University

#2

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Arizona. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region list. This large school is located in Tucson, Arizona, and it awarded 26 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

University of Arizona did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Arizona is $15,016 for southwest region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Astronomy at University of Arizona

#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott is a small school located in Prescott, Arizona that handed out 2 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

Embry-Riddle Prescott also took the #3 spot in our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $35,396 for southwest region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students per year to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott Astronomy Report

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region list. Austin, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees to 33 students in 2019-2020.

UT Austin did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UT Austin is $18,023 for southwest region bachelor’s degree astronomical sciences students.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin

#5

Baylor University

Waco, Texas
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Baylor University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Astronomical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region. Baylor University is located in Waco, Texas and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees to qualified students.

Baylor not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $36,039 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomical Sciences students per year to attend Baylor.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Astronomy at Baylor University

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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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