2023 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Massachusetts
13
Ranked Colleges
324
Degrees Awarded
$37,300
Avg Cost*
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Physical Sciences is the 19th most popular major in the country with 50,306 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, physical sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $39,880 and had an average of $22,620 in loans still to pay off.
Across Massachusetts, there were 1,721 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $43,298 and $24,195 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 324 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $82,580 and $0 respectively.
For this year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts” ranking, we looked at 13 colleges that offer a degree in physical sciences. That schools that top this list have a program in physical sciences in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.
Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
One Size Does Not Fit All
The physical sciences 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 “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts”.
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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.
Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts
The colleges and universities below are the best for massachusetts doctor’s degree physical sciences students.
Top 13 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Massachusetts
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts list. Cambridge, Massachusetts is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to 96 students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 98%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvard University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts. Harvard University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 81 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to qualified students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% 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 undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read more about Physical Sciences at Harvard
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Brandeis University. The school came in at #3 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts. Brandeis is a medium-sized school located in Waltham, Massachusetts that handed out 13 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.2% 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 undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Full Brandeis University Physical Sciences Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Boston College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts list. Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to 25 students in 2020-2021.
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 low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% 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 Boston College Physical Sciences Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts list. Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 9 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s physical sciences students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Physical Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Tufts University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts ranking. Medford, Massachusetts is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to 11 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Full Tufts Physical Sciences Report
With a ranking of #7, University of Massachusetts Amherst did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts list. Amherst, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to 25 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at UMass Amherst
Boston University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts ranking. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 30 degrees to qualified doctorate’s physical sciences 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%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Physical Sciences at Boston U
University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth ranked #9 on this year’s Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts list. UMass Dartmouth is a medium-sized school located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts that handed out 5 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about Physical Sciences at University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
University of Massachusetts - Lowell landed the #10 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts ranking. UMass Lowell is located in Lowell, Massachusetts and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 11 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees to qualified students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.5% 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 full report on Physical Sciences at UMass Lowell
Northeastern University landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts ranking. Northeastern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 14 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at Northeastern
University of Massachusetts - Boston came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts ranking. University of Massachusetts - Boston is a fairly large public school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 3 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Massachusetts - Boston
Clark University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in Massachusetts ranking, coming in at #13. Clark is a small school located in Worcester, Massachusetts that handed out 1 doctorate’s physical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.
Full Clark University Physical Sciences Report
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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
- *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
- Credit for the banner image above goes to NASA.