2023 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy in Virginia

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in Virginia” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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

Across Virginia, there were 26 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 19 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,553 and $27,844 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in Virginia” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in astronomy. That schools that top this list have a program in astronomy in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The astronomical sciences 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 “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in Virginia”.

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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in Virginia

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

Top 2 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy in Virginia

1

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, Virginia

#1 overall quality in Virginia

Out of the 2 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, this large public school awarded 18 degrees to qualified bachelors’s astronomical sciences students in 2020-2021.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Astronomy at University of Virginia

2

George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia

#5 overall quality in Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Mason University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in Virginia. This large school is located in Fairfax, Virginia, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Astronomy at GMU

• Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy in the Southeast Region
• Most Focused 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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.