by our College Data Analytics Team
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Astronomy is the 479th most popular major in the country with 765 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.
Across the Southwest region, there were 79 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 15 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,218 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region” ranking looked at 5 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.
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 “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region” list to help you make the college decision.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region doctor’s degree astronomical sciences students.
Out of the 5 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, New Mexico State University - Main Campus landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, this fairly large public school awarded 3 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s astronomical sciences students in 2020-2021.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Arizona. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region list. University of Arizona is a public institution located in Tucson, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 9 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region list. Located in Austin, Texas, this large public school awarded 3 degrees to qualified doctorate’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 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Arizona University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region list. Northern Arizona University is a large public school situated in Flagstaff, Arizona. It awarded 4 doctorate’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Texas A&M University - College Station. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomical Sciences Major in the Southwest Region list. Located in College Station, Texas, this large public school handed out 3 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s astronomical sciences students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
