2023 Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 New England region, there were 119 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality astronomy and astrophysics 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 astronomy and astrophysics 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

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 New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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.

Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $30-$48k) in the New England Region

1

Williams College
Williamstown, Massachusetts

#1 in overall quality

$5,480 Average Net Price

$51,114 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Williams College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k. Williams College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The school has a small population, and it awarded 5 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Williams also took the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Williams College is $5,480 for New England Region Astronomy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at Williams

2

Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$11,782 Average Net Price

$55,473 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Boston University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k. Boston, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s astronomy degrees to 18 students in 2020-2021.

Boston U did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the New England Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Boston U is $11,782 for New England Region Astronomy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at Boston U

3

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts

#3 in overall quality

$13,203 Average Net Price

$47,385 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Massachusetts Amherst. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the New England Region For Those Making $30-$48k. Amherst, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s astronomy degrees to 20 students in 2020-2021.

UMass Amherst also made our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the New England Region” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $13,203 for New England Region Astronomy students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UMass Amherst.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.9% 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%.

Full UMass Amherst Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

• Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $30-$48k)

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.