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Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

10 Colleges
$22,212 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$70,619 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree School for You

With 1,641 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, physical sciences is the #12 most popular major in California.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in California to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for physical sciences students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for physical sciences majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Top 10 Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Santa Barbara the best value school in California for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UCSB graduate students pay an average of $13,581 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Barbara

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.

UC Berkeley also made our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #3.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCSD is a very large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

UCSD graduate students pay an average of $13,564 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - San Diego Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great value for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCLA are $13,036 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCLA is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of California - Riverside is a great value for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public school with a very large student population.

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

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of California - Riverside

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

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Santa Cruz are $13,895 a year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - Santa Cruz Report

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of California - Irvine

University of California - Davis came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Davis are $13,608 a year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of California - Davis Report

#9

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for physical sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Stanford graduate students pay an average of $55,011 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Stanford did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Physical Sciences at Stanford University Report

California Institute of Technology landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree physical sciences programs. Caltech is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pasadena.

Caltech graduate students pay an average of $58,443 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Best Value Physical Sciences Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 246
Oregon 215
Nevada 60
Hawaii 47
Alaska 31

Physical Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 5,005
Physics 3,727
Geological & Earth Sciences 2,491
Materials Sciences 448
Astronomy & Astrophysics 371
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 342
Other Physical Science 191
General Physical Sciences 107
Physics and Astronomy 23

Related Major Annual Graduates
Engineering 61,791
Computer & Information Sciences 60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 28,851
Mathematics & Statistics 15,127
Engineering Technologies 7,672

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 10 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 NASA.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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