2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Master’s in California” 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 California, there were 153 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $14,817 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 14 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,281 and $50,119 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

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

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 Master’s in California” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California.

Top 4 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in California

#1

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$28,131 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s astronomy degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Los Angeles are $28,131, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of California - Los Angeles Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#2

San Diego State University

San Diego, California

#4 in overall quality

$18,658 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Diego State University landed the #2 spot on the list. San Diego State University is a large public school situated in San Diego, California. It awarded 3 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

SDSU also took the #4 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at San Diego State University are $18,658.

Full SDSU Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#3

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#2 in overall quality

$29,347 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California list. University of California - Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 4 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also made our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Berkeley are $29,347, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at UC Berkeley

#4

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

#3 in overall quality

$28,952 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #4 spot on the list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 3 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Santa Cruz, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Santa Cruz are $28,952, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full UC Santa Cruz Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Master’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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