2023 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Far Western US Region
8
Ranked Colleges
47
Degrees Awarded
$37,300
Avg Cost*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Astronomy & Astrophysics is the 219th most popular major in the country with 1,375 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. 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 the Far Western US region, there were 344 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $19,734 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 47 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $61,693 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in astronomy and astrophysics. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in astronomy and astrophysics.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
More Ways to Rank Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. 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 Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region”.
Top 8 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Far Western US Region
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of Technology. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region list. California Institute of Technology is located in Pasadena, California and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 16 masters’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
Full Caltech Astronomy & Astrophysics Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Hawaii at Manoa. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region. Honolulu, Hawaii is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s astronomy degrees to 4 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at UH Manoa
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Santa Cruz. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 5 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of California - Santa Cruz
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region list. UC Berkeley is a large school located in Berkeley, California that handed out 11 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Full University of California - Berkeley Astronomy & Astrophysics Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #5 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region. San Diego State University is a large public school situated in San Diego, California. It awarded 6 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at San Diego State University
University of Washington - Seattle Campus came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region ranking. University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a large public school situated in Seattle, Washington. It awarded 3 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Washington - Seattle Campus
With a ranking of #7, University of Nevada - Las Vegas did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region list. University of Nevada - Las Vegas is a public institution located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Nevada - Las Vegas
University of California - Los Angeles ranked #8 on this year’s Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Astronomy Major in the Far Western US Region list. University of California - Los Angeles is a large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 1 masters’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of California - Los Angeles
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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
- *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.
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