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2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region

7 Ranked Colleges
21 Degrees Awarded
$38,700 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master's in the Great Lakes 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 Master’s in the Great Lakes Region” 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 Great Lakes region, there were 224 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 21 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,039 and $42,488 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking, we looked at 7 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 the Great Lakes Region” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 7 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Great Lakes Region

#2 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and it awarded 3 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UW - Madison did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UW - Madison are $25,523, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at UW - Madison

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 2 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also took the #4 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#3

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana
#6 in overall quality

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

As a testament to the quality of education offered at IU Bloomington, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at IU Bloomington are $33,338, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at Indiana University - Bloomington

#4

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Michigan State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region. This large school is located in East Lansing, Michigan, and it awarded 2 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Michigan State, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’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 University are $37,056.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at Michigan State University

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ohio State University - Main Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Columbus, Ohio, this large public school handed out 3 degrees to qualified masters’s astronomy students in 2019-2020.

Ohio State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. 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

#3 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. This large school is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and it awarded 4 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

U-M also made our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #3. Average graduate tuition and fees at U-M are $49,548, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at U-M

#7

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Northwestern University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #7. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 5 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region master’s degree astronomy students list, Northwestern has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Master’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 Northwestern are $56,567.

Full Northwestern 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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