2022 Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 $75-$110k” 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.

For this year’s “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree 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.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the planetary astronomy and science program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The planetary astronomy and science 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 “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k”.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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 Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Planetary Astronomy & Science (Income $75-$110k)

#1

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California

#1 in overall quality

$12,788 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of Technology. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k list. Located in Pasadena, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 2 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science students in 2019-2020.

Caltech also took the #1 spot in our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Caltech is $12,788 for Bachelor’s Degree Planetary Astronomy and Science students whose families make $75-$110k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

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

#2

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$15,553 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvard University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k list. This large school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science degrees in 2019-2020.

Harvard did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The yearly cost to attend Harvard University is $15,553 for bachelor’s degree planetary astronomy and science students whose families make $75-$110k.

The low student loan default rate of 1.1% 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%. 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.

Read full report on Planetary Astronomy & Science at Harvard

#3

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#3 in overall quality

$21,401 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $75-$110k 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 did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It costs about $21,401 for Bachelor’s Degree Planetary Astronomy and Science students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend University of California - 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Planetary Astronomy & Science at University of California - Berkeley

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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