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Best Value Physics Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Physics Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$21,393 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$81,190 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physics Doctor's Degree School for You

With 483 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, physics is the #52 most popular major in California.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Physics Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for physics students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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 Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Physics Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Physics Doctor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found University of California - Santa Barbara to be the best value school for physics students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSB are $13,581 per year.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - San Diego helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value physics schools in California. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSD are $13,564 a year.

Full Physics at University of California - San Diego Report

Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 3 spot on the list. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA also claimed a spot on our Best Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Physics at University of California - Los Angeles Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Merced. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the rural area of Merced, UC Merced is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Merced are $13,207 a year.

Full Physics at University of California - Merced Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Physics at University of California - Berkeley Report

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Riverside did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physics students working on their doctor’s degree. UCR is a very large public school located in the large city of Riverside.

UCR graduate students pay an average of $13,467 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Physics at University of California - Riverside Report

University of California - Irvine landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree physics programs. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Physics at University of California - Irvine Report

University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physics students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UC Santa Cruz graduate students pay an average of $13,895 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Physics at University of California - Santa Cruz

University of California - Davis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physics students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. UC Davis is a very large public school located in the suburb of Davis.

UC Davis graduate students pay an average of $13,608 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree physics programs. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Stanford are $55,011 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Stanford is ranked #1 for overall quality for physics in California.

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Best Value Physics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Physics Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 74
Oregon 63
Nevada 13
Hawaii 3
Alaska 1

Physics is one of 8 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Physics

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 5,005
Geological & Earth Sciences 2,491
Materials Sciences 448
Astronomy & Astrophysics 371
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 342

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to A. T. Service.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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