2023 Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Colleges for Veterans in California
4
Ranked Colleges
252
Degrees Awarded
$37,000
Avg Cost*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy” 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 California, there were 252 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $19,734 respectively.
This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality astronomy and astrophysics programs as well as strong veteran support.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as veteran satisfaction, veteran affordability, and overall quality of the astronomy and astrophysics program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
One Size Does Not Fit All
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 “Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy” 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. 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.
Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy”.
Top 4 Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Colleges for Veterans in California
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #1 for the Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large public school handed out 43 degrees to qualified ’s astronomy students in 2020-2021.
UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.According to our most recent data, University of California - Los Angeles supports 44,589 students, and 7 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 4 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $8,071. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at University of California - Los Angeles]](/colleges/university-of-california-los-angeles/student-life/veterans/)
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #2 for the Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy. San Diego, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s astronomy degrees to 15 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our california vets studying astronomy list, SDSU has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 36,334 students enrolled at SDSU, 1,433 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 853 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,806. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full SDSU Veteran Student Life Report
Out of the 4 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #3 spot on the list. UC Santa Cruz is located in Santa Cruz, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 76 ’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Santa Cruz, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 273 of the 19,161 students enrolled at University of California - Santa Cruz were GI Bill® students, of which 114 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $8,631. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full UC Santa Cruz Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of Technology. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in California for Astronomy list. This small school is located in Pasadena, California, and it awarded 28 ’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.
Caltech also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 2,240 students enrolled at California Institute of Technology, 4 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $67,154. During this same period, 1 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at California Institute of Technology]](/colleges/california-institute-of-technology/student-life/veterans/)
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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).
- Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
- 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.
- **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
- 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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