2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Physical Sciences
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2019-2020, 4,159 people earned their degree in general physical sciences, making the major the 135th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general physical sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $25,050 and had an average of $13,137 in loans still to pay off.
At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 261 general physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking looked at 12 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in general physical sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general physical sciences 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 general physical sciences program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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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 “Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to 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.
Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s
The colleges and universities below are the best for bachelor’s degree physical science students.
Top 12 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Physical Sciences
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Kansas State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s. Kansas State University is a large public school situated in Manhattan, Kansas. It awarded 7 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at K -State, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for K -State is $18,285 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Rowan University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s. This fairly large school is located in Glassboro, New Jersey, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Rowan, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $25,454 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students per year to attend Rowan University.
Read more about General Physical Sciences at Rowan University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Fresno. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s. This large school is located in Fresno, California, and it awarded 16 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Fresno State, the school also landed the #11 spot in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Fresno State is $5,464 for bachelor’s degree physical science students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Full California State University - Fresno General Physical Sciences Report
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Washington State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Washington State University is a public institution located in Pullman, Washington. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Wazzu also made our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #9. The estimated yearly cost for Wazzu is $16,358 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Kentucky University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s list. WKU is a public institution located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 3 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree physical science students list, WKU has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend WKU is $11,962 for bachelor’s degree physical science students.
University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #6. University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus is a public institution located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school has a large population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Pitt also made our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Pitt is $27,938 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Full University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus General Physical Sciences Report
Arizona State University - Tempe landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Arizona State University - Tempe is a large public school situated in Tempe, Arizona. It awarded 49 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at ASU - Tempe, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend ASU - Tempe is $11,706 for bachelor’s degree physical science students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about General Physical Sciences at Arizona State University - Tempe
California State University - Stanislaus did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #8. This fairly large school is located in Turlock, California, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree physical science students list, Stan State has also earned the #12 rank in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $6,019 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students per year to attend Stan State.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Michigan State University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Michigan State University is a large school located in East Lansing, Michigan that handed out 2 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.
Michigan State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for Michigan State University is $19,173 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 3.6% 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 more about General Physical Sciences at Michigan State University
Rochester Institute of Technology came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. This fairly large school is located in Rochester, New York, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s physical science degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree physical science students list, RIT has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Rochester Institute of Technology is $33,167 for bachelor’s degree physical science students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #11. Located in Santa Cruz, California, this fairly large public school awarded 7 degrees to qualified bachelors’s physical science students in 2019-2020.
UC Santa Cruz did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for UC Santa Cruz is $18,186 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Emory University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 6 degrees to qualified bachelors’s physical science students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree physical science students list, Emory has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best General Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Emory is $23,734 for Bachelor’s Degree Physical Science students.
The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national 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.
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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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