2023 Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $0-$30k) in the Rocky Mountains Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Astronomy & Astrophysics is the 219th most popular major in the country with 1,375 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, astronomy and astrophysics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,221 and had an average of $24,484 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Rocky Mountains region, there were 85 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,212 and $22,422 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent astronomy and astrophysics programs, but they also cost less that 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 astronomy and astrophysics program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college 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. 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 Astronomy Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $0-$30k) in the Rocky Mountains Region

1

University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming

#2 in overall quality

$6,905 Average Net Price

$44,258 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wyoming landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Wyoming is a public institution located in Laramie, Wyoming. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 7 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our rocky mountains region astronomy students whose families make $0-$30k list, UW has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UW is $6,905 for Rocky Mountains Region Astronomy students whose families make $0-$30k.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full UW Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

2

University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$13,141 Average Net Price

$48,893 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Colorado Boulder. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Boulder, Colorado, and it awarded 73 ’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CU - Boulder, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking. It costs about $13,141 for rocky mountains region astronomy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Colorado Boulder.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at CU - Boulder

• Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $0-$30k)

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.