2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region

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 Rocky Mountains Region” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 1,268 people earned their degree in astronomy and astrophysics, making the major the 222nd most popular in the United States. 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 Rocky Mountains region, there were 108 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $27,700 and $19,530 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 81 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,111 and $23,874 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region” 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. 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 for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Rocky Mountains Region

#1

Brigham Young University - Provo

Provo, Utah

#3 in overall quality

$13,322 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Brigham Young University - Provo landed the #1 spot on the list. Brigham Young University - Provo is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Provo, Utah. It awarded 6 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our rocky mountains region bachelor’s degree astronomy students list, BYU has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Brigham Young University - Provo is $13,322 for Rocky Mountains Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, 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 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at BYU

#2

University of Wyoming

Laramie, Wyoming

#2 in overall quality

$12,159 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wyoming. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region list. This fairly large school is located in Laramie, Wyoming, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our rocky mountains region bachelor’s degree astronomy students list, UW has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UW is $12,159 for Rocky Mountains Region Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at UW

#3

University of Colorado Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$21,680 Average Net Price

$42,123 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Colorado Boulder. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Rocky Mountains Region. University of Colorado Boulder is located in Boulder, Colorado and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 64 bachelors’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our rocky mountains region bachelor’s degree astronomy students list, CU - Boulder has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking. It costs about $21,680 for rocky mountains region bachelor’s degree astronomy students per year to attend University of Colorado Boulder.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Colorado Boulder

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics

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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