2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California
13
Ranked Colleges
230
Degrees Awarded
$75,527
Avg Salary
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2020-2021, 13,674 people earned their degree in physics, making the major the 68th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, physics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $42,960 and had an average of $22,756 in loans still to pay off.
Across California, there were 3,224 physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $41,268 and $18,506 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 230 physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,525 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California” ranking looked at 13 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in physics. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in physics.
For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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 “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California” 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. 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.
Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California”.
Top 13 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Physics in California
Out of the 13 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. California Institute of Technology is located in Pasadena, California and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 21 doctorate’s physics degrees to qualified students.
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. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Physics at Caltech
Out of the 13 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the #2 spot on the list. Stanford, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s physics degrees to 41 students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read more about Physics at Stanford
Out of the 13 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #3 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a public institution located in Berkeley, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 39 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full University of California - Berkeley Physics Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Riverside. The school came in at #4 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California. This large school is located in Riverside, California, and it awarded 18 doctorate’s physics degrees in 2020-2021.
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 undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Physics at University of California - Riverside
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #5 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California. Located in La Jolla, California, this large public school awarded 21 degrees to qualified doctorate’s physics students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.0% 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%.
Full University of California - San Diego Physics Report
University of California - Los Angeles ranked #6 on this year’s Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California list. UCLA is a large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 23 doctorate’s physics degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Physics at UCLA
University of California - Merced ranked #7 on this year’s Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California list. This medium-sized school is located in Merced, California, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s physics degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Physics at UC Merced
With a ranking of #8, University of California - Davis did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California list. UC Davis is a large school located in Davis, California that handed out 17 doctorate’s physics degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full UC Davis Physics Report
With a ranking of #9, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California list. This large school is located in Santa Barbara, California, and it awarded 11 doctorate’s physics degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% 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 Physics at UCSB
University of California - Irvine landed the #10 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California ranking. Irvine, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s physics degrees to 15 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Physics at University of California - Irvine
With a ranking of #11, University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school situated in Santa Cruz, California. It awarded 6 doctorate’s physics degrees in 2020-2021.
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 undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Physics at UC Santa Cruz
University of Southern California ranked #12 on this year’s Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California list. USC is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 15 doctorate’s physics degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Physics at USC
Naval Postgraduate School landed the #13 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physics Major in California ranking. Naval Postgraduate School is a public institution located in Monterey, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 0 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Full Naval Postgraduate School Physics Report
Focus on a Specific Degree Level
Switch to a More General Major
Switch to a Similar Major
Switch to a More Focused Major
Switch to a Different Ranking Method
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
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.
Credits