2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Planetary Astronomy & Science (Income $0-$30k)

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 59 people earned their degree in planetary astronomy and science, making the major the 1071st most popular in the United States.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 17 planetary astronomy and science graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in planetary astronomy and science. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality planetary astronomy and science 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 planetary astronomy and science 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 Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Planetary Astronomy & Science (Income $0-$30k)

#1

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California

#1 in overall quality

$5,456 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. Pasadena, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

Caltech also took the #1 spot in our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California Institute of Technology is $5,456 for bachelor’s degree planetary astronomy and science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Planetary Astronomy & Science at California Institute of Technology

#2

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$2,973 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Harvard University landed the #2 spot on the list. Harvard University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science degrees to qualified students.

Harvard did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It costs about $2,973 for bachelor’s degree planetary astronomy and science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Harvard University.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Planetary Astronomy & Science at Harvard

#3

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#3 in overall quality

$8,392 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Berkeley, California, this large public school handed out 3 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science students in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It costs about $8,392 for Bachelor’s Degree Planetary Astronomy and Science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UC Berkeley.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of California - Berkeley Planetary Astronomy & Science Report

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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