2023 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in Virginia

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in Virginia” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 1,375 people earned their degree in astronomy and astrophysics, making the major the 219th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, astronomy and astrophysics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,221 and had an average of $24,484 in loans still to pay off.

Across Virginia, there were 27 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 5 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,633 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in Virginia” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their astronomy and astrophysics program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.

Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in Virginia” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in Virginia

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in Virginia”.

Top 2 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in Virginia

1

Hampton University
Hampton, Virginia

#24 overall quality in Virginia

Out of the 2 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Hampton University landed the #1 spot on the list. Hampton is a private not-for-profit institution located in Hampton, Virginia. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at Hampton

2

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, Virginia

#1 overall quality in Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in Virginia. University of Virginia - Main Campus is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 4 doctorate’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Virginia - Main Campus

• Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Southeast Region
• Most Focused 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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.