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Most Popular Physics Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Physics Schools in California

22 Colleges
$41,268 Avg Salary
$18,506 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Physics 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Most Popular Physics Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 22 schools in California to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Physics program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Physics Colleges.

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the most popular school in California for physics students. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

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#2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Out of the 22 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Santa Barbara is a great place for physics students. UCSB is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.

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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 Most Popular Physics Schools in California list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

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The excellent programs at University of California - Riverside helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best physics schools in California. UCR is a fairly large public school located in the city of Riverside.

Full Physics at University of California - Riverside Report

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for physics students. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.

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University of California - Irvine came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Physics Schools in California ranking. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

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California Institute of Technology ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Physics Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized city of Pasadena, Caltech is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Physics at California Institute of Technology Report

University of California - San Diego landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physics programs. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physics programs. Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

Best Physics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Physics Schools 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 22 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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