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2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Illinois

7 Ranked Colleges
262 Degrees Awarded
$33,600 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Physical Sciences is the 18th most popular major in the country with 52,879 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, physical sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $38,122 and had an average of $22,339 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 1,704 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $44,790 and $21,894 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 262 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,900 and $148,219 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in physical sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent physical sciences programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons 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.

Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois.

Top 8 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Illinois

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois list. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to 96 students in 2019-2020.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#2

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois. This fairly large school is located in Dekalb, Illinois, and it awarded 9 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU also made our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #7. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Northern Illinois University are $11,086.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at NIU

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to 17 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Chicago are $27,036.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at UIC

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #4 spot on the list. SIUC is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 8 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUC, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are $32,928, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Physical Sciences at SIUC

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois Institute of Technology. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois. Illinois Institute of Technology is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 10 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois doctor’s degree physical sciences students list, Illinois Tech has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois Institute of Technology are $30,695, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Physical Sciences at Illinois Institute of Technology

#5

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Loyola University Chicago landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 3 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s physical sciences students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois doctor’s degree physical sciences students list, Loyola Chicago has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Loyola University Chicago are $19,154.

Read more about Physical Sciences at Loyola Chicago

#6

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

Northwestern University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois ranking. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 53 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567.

Full Northwestern Physical Sciences Report

#7

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, University of Chicago did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois list. University of Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 66 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois doctor’s degree physical sciences students list, UChicago has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UChicago are $61,548, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Physical Sciences at University of Chicago

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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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NASA.

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