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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physics in Pennsylvania

18 Ranked Colleges
430 Degrees Awarded
$24,000 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor's in Pennsylvania

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Physics is the 67th most popular major in the country with 14,123 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, physics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $42,475 and had an average of $22,421 in loans still to pay off.

Across Pennsylvania, there were 549 physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $27,900 and $27,000 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 430 physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking looked at 18 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in physics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality physics programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the physics program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Physics Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania.

Top 18 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physics in Pennsylvania

#1

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 18 schools in the Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania landed the #1 spot on the list. Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s physics degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.

SRU also made our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $19,926 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students per year to attend SRU.

Read full report on Physics at SRU

#2

West Chester University of Pennsylvania

West Chester, Pennsylvania
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Chester University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. WCUPA is a public institution located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 19 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

WCUPA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend West Chester University of Pennsylvania is $22,495 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Physics at West Chester University of Pennsylvania

#3

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
#9 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. This medium-sized school is located in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s physics degrees in 2019-2020.

East Stroudsburg University also made our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #9. The yearly cost to attend East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania is $19,855 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

Read more about Physics at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

#4

Lock Haven University

Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

Out of the 18 schools in the Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Lock Haven University landed the #4 spot on the list. Lock Haven, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s physics degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.

LHU also took the #12 spot in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for LHU is $20,506 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

Read more about Physics at LHU

#5

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
#13 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. Located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, this medium-sized public school awarded 7 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s physics students in 2019-2020.

Bloomsburg not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #13 on our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Bloomsburg is $20,230 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students.

Read full report on Physics at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

#6

Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Millersville, Pennsylvania
#10 in overall quality

Millersville University of Pennsylvania did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #6. Millersville, Pennsylvania is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s physics degrees to 8 students in 2019-2020.

Millersville did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Millersville is $23,350 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students.

Read full report on Physics at Millersville

#7

California University of Pennsylvania

California, Pennsylvania
#17 in overall quality

California University of Pennsylvania came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in California, Pennsylvania, this medium-sized public school handed out 5 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s physics students in 2019-2020.

Cal U not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #17 on our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend California University of Pennsylvania is $18,154 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students.

Read full report on Physics at Cal U

#8

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Kutztown, Pennsylvania is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s physics degrees to 5 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students list, Kutztown University has also earned the #14 rank in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Kutztown University is $22,422 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

Read more about Physics at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

#9

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Clarion, Pennsylvania
#15 in overall quality

Clarion University of Pennsylvania ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Located in Clarion, Pennsylvania, this small public school awarded 4 degrees to qualified bachelors’s physics students in 2019-2020.

Clarion University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #15 on our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Clarion University of Pennsylvania is $20,011 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

Full Clarion University Physics Report

#7 in overall quality

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 15 bachelors’s physics degrees to qualified students.

Pitt not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Pitt is $27,938 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Physics Report

#16 in overall quality

Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Indiana, Pennsylvania is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s physics degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.

IUP also took the #16 spot in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus is $22,448 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

Full IUP Physics Report

#12

Temple University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Temple University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #12. Temple University is a large public school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It awarded 14 bachelors’s physics degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students list, Temple has also earned the #11 rank in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Temple University is $23,521 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read more about Physics at Temple University

#13

Wilkes University

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Wilkes University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Wilkes is a small school located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania that handed out 2 bachelors’s physics degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Wilkes, the school also landed the #18 spot in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $26,641 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students per year to attend Wilkes.

Full Wilkes University Physics Report

#14

Lebanon Valley College

Annville, Pennsylvania
#6 in overall quality

Lebanon Valley College landed the #14 spot on the 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Lebanon Valley College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Annville, Pennsylvania. It awarded 4 bachelors’s physics degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at LVC, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Lebanon Valley College is $27,464 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full LVC Physics Report

#15

Allegheny College

Meadville, Pennsylvania
#8 in overall quality

Allegheny College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #15. Meadville, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s physics degrees to 15 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Allegheny, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Allegheny is $21,682 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Allegheny Physics Report

#16

Drexel University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#3 in overall quality

Drexel University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Drexel University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school has a large population, and it awarded 16 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Drexel, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Drexel is $34,914 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Drexel University Physics Report

#17

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#1 in overall quality

Carnegie Mellon University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Carnegie Mellon University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It awarded 40 bachelors’s physics degrees in 2019-2020.

Carnegie Mellon also took the #1 spot in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $34,508 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students per year to attend Carnegie Mellon.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Physics at Carnegie Mellon

#18

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#2 in overall quality

University of Pennsylvania did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #18. This large school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 60 bachelors’s physics degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree physics students list, UPenn has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UPenn is $25,802 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Physics students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. 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%.

Full UPenn Physics Report

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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