2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Planetary Astronomy & Science

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking.

Planetary Astronomy & Science is the 1071st most popular major in the country with 59 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

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” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in planetary astronomy and science. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent planetary astronomy and science programs, but they also cost less that 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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”.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Planetary Astronomy & Science

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#3 in overall quality

$15,329 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Berkeley, California, this large public school awarded 3 degrees 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 $15,329 for bachelor’s degree planetary astronomy and science students per year to attend UC Berkeley.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Full University of California - Berkeley Planetary Astronomy & Science Report

#2

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$15,386 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 list. Harvard is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It awarded 9 bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science degrees in 2019-2020.

Harvard also took the #2 spot in our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Harvard is $15,386 for bachelor’s degree planetary astronomy and science students.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Planetary Astronomy & Science at Harvard University

#3

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California

#1 in overall quality

$24,274 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of Technology. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s 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 not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for Caltech is $24,274 for Bachelor’s Degree Planetary Astronomy and Science students.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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.

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

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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