2024 Best Colleges for Applied Physics

SUMMARY

Choosing to study Applied Physics is a valuable choice and often a needed first step for scholars hoping to enter a career as an integration engineer, an applied medical physicist, or an aeronautical engineer. Interestingly, applied physics is an uncommon major being the 249th most popular major. Last year, there were 683 applied physics graduates. In-state tuition for applied physics at private colleges is, on average, 3.6 times more expensive than their public peers.

With just 117 colleges having programs for this degree you may have limited options as to the institutions which will have a degree program for you. If you are looking to surround yourself with other applied physics students, look at schools in Illinois which have more undergraduates admitted to applied physics than any other state. More generally, the best region to major in applied physics is in the Great Lakes region with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ohio State University-Main Campus, and University of Wisconsin-Platteville best representing the region. Interestingly, our selection for the top conference to major in applied physics is the Big Ten Conference with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and Ohio State University-Main Campus representing the conference. That being said, our choice for the best college for applied physics is Columbia University in the City of New York, and here you can find our comprehensive list for the best colleges.

The best school is not necessarily the 'best' school for every student. There can be tons of facets to think about when deciding on ​university. Features like campus amenities, transportation services, and food might modify your choice on which college to attend. At Authority, we've examined the pros and cons for you. If, for example, you are intrigued by which applied physics university is home to the top campus, the answer is New York University. If you are very interested in which college boasts the finest campus, we have an entire page dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through professor reviews, student reviews, government databases, and more in order to compare each major in an unbiased and informative way. You can find our well researched list for the universities with the best student life&nbsphere and from that list, our selection of the university with the best student life for applied physics is Cornell University. Curious why? Continue reading to find out more about Authority's top choices. Some of our picks might shock you.

If cost is a significant deciding factor in your choice of where you attend college, you might be cautious about Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia University in the City of New York&nbspappears to be the most expensive school for applied physics, at least for out of state enrollment. We do have an entire list of the most expensive&nbspschools that might put the cost at Columbia University in the City of New York&nbspinto perspective. For more context, you could want to know that applied physics is the 124th most expensive degree in the United States, with an average expense of $36,400. On a broader scale, the most expensive state for applied physics in the nation is New York with expenses at the main three universities of $57,763 at Columbia University in the City of New York, equalling $56,550 at Cornell University, and tuition and fees of $56,550 at Fordham University. To zoom out even further, the most expensive region for applied physics is the Mid East region which is best demonstrated with Columbia University in the City of New York with a cost of $57,763, Cornell University with a cost of $56,550, and Fordham University with a cost of $52,980.

Our cheapest region for applied physics is the Southwest region which is represented by University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus with a cost of $20,169 and Stephen F Austin State University with a cost of $16,224. On the bright side, the most affordable university for applied physics is University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus. Authority.org's full list of the most affordable colleges can be found here.

In-state attendees can anticipate paying in the neighborhood of $12,600 for a degree in applied physics. The price increases substantially to an average of $31,000 for the out-of-state public-school student. As such, you might be interested in our pick for the university representing the best value for applied physics: Cornell University. Through this link you can find our comprehensive list for the schools we believe to be the best value&nbspin general. With that said, this list is predicated on out-of-state tuition costs. A discussion of value changes when in-state tuition costs are considered, but we do not know where you live (and are not trying to collect that kind of data).

Earnings for applied physics majors can cover a wide range, but two-years after completing the major students will regularly make in the neighborhood of $72,800. While there is a lot of variation in earnings potential; top earners can rake in up to $129,500. Even right out of university, the minimum earning opportunities within the applied physics field earn $41,100, which isn't that bad. The highest earning grads from applied physics graduated from Colorado School of Mines&nbspand if you are looking for colleges with all of the highest earning graduates, we have that too.

The prevailing diversity of applied physics ranks subpar, arriving in the 50th percentile of majors nationally. The college with the highest composite diversity for applied physics is New York University&nbspand here you can find our general list for the schools which have the most diversity. The financial diversity of Applied Physics only is in the 11th percentile compared to all other majors. Racial diversity is actually above financial diversity, in the 47th percentile. White collegians compose the largest share, 63%, of students majoring in applied physics. Additionally, 79% of students seeking an applied physics major are men.

The median score for applied physics professors is 4.5 stars, a ranking that is 13% above the median for every major; this is a pretty good score. If you are interested in the most popular applied physics instructor in the country, consider looking up Phillip Schlosser at Ohio State University-Main Campus. It might come as a shock, but the highest ranked applied physics professors according to students are at Ohio State University-Main Campus. If we incorporate data other than simply rankings it becomes clear that the college with the best professors for applied physics is Columbia University in the City of New York. One will find more detail on our evolving ranking methodology of the best overall professors here, as well as some of the finest examples of professors in the country.

Finally, the most difficult university to get into for applied physics is Columbia University in the City of New York. While we do not necessarily see the value in it, we do have a comprehensive list for the hardest colleges to get into. But, here at Authority we do hope you understand that considering university with context only derived from superlatives can create issues. We hope you read our more focused pages on different topics and read a couple of our background pages on beneficial things to consider as your school search continues.