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2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Great Lakes Region

7 Ranked Colleges
27 Degrees Awarded
$41,500 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 Great Lakes region, there were 224 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 27 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $74,428 and $121,375 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer 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.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the astronomy and astrophysics program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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 Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region.

Top 8 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Great Lakes Region

#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region. University of Wisconsin - Madison is a large public school situated in Madison, Wisconsin. It awarded 3 doctorate’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UW - Madison did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Wisconsin - Madison are $25,523, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at UW - Madison

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 2 doctorate’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region doctor’s degree astronomy students list, UIUC has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#3

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana
#7 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #3 spot on the list. Indiana University - Bloomington is a large school located in Bloomington, Indiana that handed out 2 doctorate’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

IU Bloomington also took the #7 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at IU Bloomington are $33,338, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full IU Bloomington Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Ohio State University - Main Campus. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region. Located in Columbus, Ohio, this large public school handed out 5 degrees to qualified doctorate’s astronomy students in 2019-2020.

Ohio State also took the #5 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio State University - Main Campus are $37,141.

Full Ohio State Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#4 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #5 spot on the list. U-M is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 doctorate’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

U-M not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor are $49,548, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at U-M

#5

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan
#6 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Michigan State University landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in East Lansing, Michigan, and it awarded 1 doctorate’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Michigan State, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Michigan State are $37,056.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at Michigan State

#6

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Northwestern University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 7 doctorate’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern University are $56,567, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Northwestern University Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#7

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

University of Chicago ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 2 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s astronomy students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region doctor’s degree astronomy students list, UChicago has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UChicago are $61,548.

Full UChicago Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

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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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