SUMMARY
Choosing to study Astrophysics is not only a valuable choice, but commonly an obligatory first step for pupils planning to pursue a career as an astrophysicist, a physics simulation software engineer, or a programmer analyst. Interestingly, astrophysics is an uncommon degree ranking as the 340th most popular degree. Last academic year alone, there were 244 astrophysics diplomas received. In-state tuition for astrophysics at private schools is, on average, 4.3 times more costly than their public equivalents.
With just 43 colleges having programs for this degree there could be a more finite list of the institutions that will have an option for you. If you're looking to immerse yourself with other astrophysics undergraduates, consider schools in California which have the most undergrads admitted to astrophysics annually. Zooming out, the top region to study astrophysics is in the Far West region with University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles, and University of California-Santa Cruz best representing the region. Interestingly, our selection for the top conference to major in astrophysics is the Big Ten Conference with University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, and University of Wisconsin-Madison representing the conference. That being said, our choice for the best university for astrophysics is Harvard University. You may also want to check out our list of the best colleges.
The objectively best school might not actually be the best school for you. There can be tons of perspectives to weigh when deciding on school. External stuff like campus amenities, transportation services, and food could impact your feelings of which university to attend. At authority.org, we've examined the pros and cons for you. If, for example, you are intrigued by which astrophysics college is home to the top college campus, the winner is Harvard University. If, for example, you are very interested in which school is home to the best campus, we have a whole list dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through professor reviews, government databases, student reviews, and more so we can evaluate every U.S. major in an unbiased and informative way. Here you can explore our comprehensive list for the colleges with the best student life and from that list, our choice for the school with the best student life for astrophysics is Columbia University in the City of New York. Are you curious why? Keep reading to learn more about Authority's top choices. Some of our decisions will probably shock you.
If cost is a major deciding factor in your decisions, you might consider avoiding Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia University in the City of New York appears to be our most expensive school for astrophysics, at least for out of state students. We do have a page for the most expensive universities that could put the price tag of Columbia University in the City of New York into perspective. For more context, you could be interested to know that astrophysics is the 76th most expensive degree in the US, with an average associated cost of $41,200. To zoom out a little, the most costly state for astrophysics nationally is New York with expenses at the primary two universities Colgate University and Columbia University in the City of New York of $57,695 and $57,763 respectively. To zoom out even further, the most expensive region of the U.S. for astrophysics is the Mid East region which is best demonstrated with Rutgers University-New Brunswick with a cost of $29,012, Colgate University with a cost of $57,695, and Columbia University in the City of New York with a cost of $57,763.
Our cheapest region for astrophysics is the Southwest region which is represented by University of New Mexico-Main Campus with a cost of $21,716. More optimistically, the most affordable college for astrophysics is University of New Mexico-Main Campus. Authority.org's entire list of the most affordable colleges can be found here.
In-state students can expect to pay about $13,100 for a degree in astrophysics. The price swells substantially to an average of $37,100 for the out-of-state public-school student. Our choice for the college representing the best value for astrophysics: Harvard University. Here you can find our comprehensive list on the colleges we see as being the best value overall. Do know, this list is based on being an out-of-state student. The value proposition 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 astrophysics majors can differ, but within two-years of finishing the degree students will regularly make in the neighborhood of $63,900. There is a lot of variation in earnings potential; top earners can enjoy pay up to $126,700. Straight out of school, the lowest end positions within the astrophysics field earn $32,000, which isn't that bad. The highest earning grads from astrophysics studied at Harvard University and if you want to find the schools with all of the highest earning graduates, Authority has that too.
The general diversity of astrophysics ranks decent, coming in the 72nd percentile of all programs. The school with the highest composite diversity for astrophysics is Harvard University and here you can find our comprehensive list for the schools with the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of the Astrophysics major only sits within the 46th percentile compared to all other majors. Racial diversity is greater than financial diversity, in the 67th percentile. White undergraduates compose the largest share, 55%, of students majoring in astrophysics. Additionally, 65% of students seeking an astrophysics major are men.
The median rating of astrophysics' professors is 4 stars, which is actually the median for every major; which is a fine. If you want the most popular astrophysics instructor in the nation, consider looking up Alex Acuna at Central New Mexico Community College. This might be shocking, but the best ranked instructors of astrophysics from student rankings come from Blinn College. If we incorporate data beyond simply rankings we find that the college possessing the overall best professors for astrophysics is California Institute of Technology. You can find an explanation of our ever evolving ranking methodology of the best overall professors here, along with some of the top instructors in the U.S.
Finally, the most difficult university to get into for astrophysics is Harvard University. While we do not necessarily see the value in it, we do have a comprehensive page of the hardest colleges to get into. With that said, here at Authority we hope you believe that considering academics from context only formed from superlatives might create problems. We encourage you to explore our other pages on different colleges and explore a couple of our informative background articles on useful details to think about as your university search continues.