2024 Best Physics and Astronomy Schools

Physics and Astronomy degree programs are on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of popularity. In fact, the major ranks #1150 out of the 1506 majors we look at each year. This may make is a little harder to find a school that is a good fit for you.

College Factual reviewed 2 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of physics and astronomy. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 38 degrees in physics and astronomy during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

• Best Overall Physics and Astronomy Schools List

Pick Your Physics and Astronomy Degree Level

The physics and astronomy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Physics and Astronomy Schools. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

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 when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Physics and Astronomy in the United States

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the physics and astronomy degrees they offer, see the list below.

Top Schools in Physics and Astronomy

1

University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

38 Physics and Astronomy Degrees Awarded

It's difficult to beat University of Kentucky if you wish to pursue a degree in physics and astronomy. Located in the city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a degree in physics and astronomy from University of Kentucky

2

Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ

Any student who is interested in physics and astronomy needs to take a look at Northern Arizona University. NAU is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Flagstaff.More information about a degree in physics and astronomy from Northern Arizona University

Physics and Astronomy by Region

View the Best Physics and Astronomy Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Physics and Astronomy Related Rankings by Major

One of 0 majors within the Physics and Astronomy area of study, Physics and Astronomy has other similar majors worth exploring.

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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.