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2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid

7 Ranked Colleges
168 Degrees Awarded
$16,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor's in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Astronomy & Astrophysics is the 222nd most popular major in the country with 1,268 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, astronomy and astrophysics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $27,700 and had an average of $21,346 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Far Western US region, there were 238 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $14,817 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 168 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,083 and $22,209 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in astronomy and astrophysics. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great astronomy and astrophysics programs and 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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 when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid.

Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a large public school situated in Seattle, Washington. It awarded 38 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our far western us region bachelor’s degree astronomy students with aid list, UW Seattle has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UW Seattle is $13,297 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Washington - Seattle Campus

#2

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large public school awarded 19 degrees to qualified bachelors’s astronomy students in 2019-2020.

UCLA also took the #2 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Los Angeles is $14,279 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at UCLA

#3

San Diego State University

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, San Diego State University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in San Diego, California, this large public school awarded 3 degrees to qualified bachelors’s astronomy students in 2019-2020.

SDSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The yearly cost to attend SDSU is $14,788 for far western us region bachelor’s degree astronomy students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Full San Diego State University Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #4 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 53 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Berkeley is $15,329 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

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

#5

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #5 spot on the list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 28 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Santa Cruz did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. It costs about $18,186 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid per year to attend University of California - Santa Cruz.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of California - Santa Cruz Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#6

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#1 in overall quality

California Institute of Technology landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. California Institute of Technology is located in Pasadena, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 8 bachelors’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

Caltech also took the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend California Institute of Technology is $24,274 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid.

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

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at California Institute of Technology

#7 in overall quality

University of Hawaii at Manoa did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. University of Hawaii at Manoa is located in Honolulu, Hawaii and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 10 bachelors’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

UH Manoa also took the #7 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UH Manoa is $15,030 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Hawaii at Manoa

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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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