2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Southeast 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 Southeast 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 Southeast region, there were 146 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 28 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,978 and $116,300 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region” ranking, we looked at 5 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

The astronomy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region”.

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 for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region

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

Top 5 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Southeast Region

#1

University of Florida

Gainesville, Florida

#1 in overall quality

$30,130 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Florida. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region. Located in Gainesville, Florida, this large public school awarded 7 degrees to qualified doctorate’s astronomy students in 2019-2020.

UF also took the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UF are $30,130, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Florida

#2

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, Arkansas

#4 in overall quality

$22,121 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Arkansas. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region. University of Arkansas is a large public school situated in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It awarded 3 doctorate’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UARK also made our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region” list, coming in at #4. Average graduate tuition and fees at UARK are $22,121, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UARK Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#3

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$32,394 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region. University of Virginia - Main Campus is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 doctorate’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

University of Virginia also made our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region” list, coming in at #2. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Virginia are $32,394.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Virginia

#4

Georgia State University

Atlanta, Georgia

#5 in overall quality

$24,790 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Georgia State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Georgia State is a public institution located in Atlanta, Georgia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 7 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Georgia State also took the #5 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Georgia State University are $24,790, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at Georgia State University

#5

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee

#3 in overall quality

$50,624 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Vanderbilt University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Doctorate in the Southeast Region list. This fairly large school is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southeast region doctor’s degree astronomy students list, Vanderbilt has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Vanderbilt are $50,624, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Vanderbilt University Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

• Best Value Doctor’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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