2024 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

a doctor's degree in geological & earth sciences is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #37 out of 306 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 16 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of geological & earth sciences. Combined, these schools handed out 183 doctor's degrees in geological & earth sciences to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Geological & Earth Sciences School for Your Doctor's Degree

The geology doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on geological & earth sciences students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other geological & earth sciences students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt geological & earth sciences students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized geological & earth sciences related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for geological & earth sciences students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Geological & Earth Sciences in the Far Western US Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in geological & earth sciences.

10 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Doctorate in Geology

1

Stanford University
Stanford, CA

29 Annual Graduates

$57,418 Median Starting Salary

Stanford University is a great option for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in geological & earth sciences. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford.

After graduating, geology doctorate recipients generally make an average of $57,418 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from Stanford University

2

California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA

14 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in geological & earth sciences has to look into California Institute of Technology. Caltech is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Pasadena.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from California Institute of Technology

3

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA

22 Annual Graduates

University of California - San Diego is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in geological & earth sciences. UCSD is a very large public university located in the large city of La Jolla.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from University of California - San Diego

4

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

3 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in geological & earth sciences has to check out University of California - Santa Barbara. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Santa Barbara

5

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

5 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Los Angeles

6

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

10 Annual Graduates

UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Berkeley

7

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA

16 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

8

University of Nevada - Reno
Reno, NV

8 Annual Graduates

UNR is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Reno.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from University of Nevada - Reno

9

Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR

7 Annual Graduates

Oregon State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Corvallis.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from Oregon State University

10

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

9 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in geological & earth sciences from University of California - Davis

Best Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best geological & earth sciences schools for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	180	125
Washington	122	17
Oregon	107	15
Nevada	84	11
Hawaii	53	8
Alaska	19	7

View All Rankings >

Geological & Earth Sciences Related Rankings by Major

Geological & Earth Sciences is one of 8 different types of Physical Sciences programs to choose from.

Geology Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Geology & Earth Sciences	80
Chemical & Physical Oceanography	43
Geophysics & Seismology	24
Other Geological & Earth Sciences/Geosciences	20
Geochemistry	9
Hydrology & Water Resources Science	7

Majors Similar to Geology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Chemistry	455
Physics	292
Materials Sciences	49
Astronomy & Astrophysics	39
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	15
Other Physical Science	1

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Kelvinsong. More about our data sources and methodologies.