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Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

5 Colleges
$21,674 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$19,734 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Astronomy & Astrophysics School for You

In 2020-2021, 67 degrees and certificates were awarded to astronomy and astrophysics students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #150 most popular major in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 5 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for astronomy students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for astronomy majors pursuing a .

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality in Astronomy & Astrophysics

#1

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
$8,136 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named San Diego State University the best value school in California for astronomy and astrophysics students. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a very large student population.

SDSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,136 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Astronomy & Astrophysics at San Diego State University Report

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,226 per year.

UC Berkeley also took the #3 spot in our Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California rankings.

Full Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of California - Berkeley Report

$14,070 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Santa Cruz helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best astronomy and astrophysics schools in California. Located in the small city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz are $14,070 a year.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of California - Santa Cruz

$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCLA are $13,258 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of California - Los Angeles Report

$58,680 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the midsize city of Pasadena, Caltech is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Caltech are $58,680 a year.

Full Astronomy & Astrophysics at California Institute of Technology Report

Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 8
Nevada 3
Hawaii 8
Alaska 0

One of 8 majors within the area of study, astronomy and astrophysics has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 5,005
Physics 3,727
Geological & Earth Sciences 2,491
Materials Sciences 448
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 342

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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