2023 Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools
Finding the Best Physical Sciences School for You
In 2020-2021, 12,705 people earned a degree or certificate in physical sciences, making the major the #16 most popular in the United States.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right 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.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools ranking. This report analyzed 376 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Physical Sciences program at each school on the list.
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2023 Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Physical Sciences Colleges.
Top 25 Most Popular Schools in Physical Sciences
Our analysis found Columbia University in the City of New York to be the most popular school for physical sciences students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at Columbia University in the City of New York
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 Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Johns Hopkins University is a great place for physical sciences students. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Baltimore.
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a great place for physical sciences students. UW Seattle is a very large public school located in the city of Seattle.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Out of the 376 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Arizona landed the # 5 spot on the list. University of Arizona is a very large public school located in the large city of Tucson.
University of California - San Diego landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physical sciences programs. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the city of La Jolla.
Full Physical Sciences at University of California - San Diego Report
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for physical sciences students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Full Physical Sciences at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Report
With a ranking of #8, Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for physical sciences students. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the city of College Station.
Full Physical Sciences at Texas A&M University - College Station Report
University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools list. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Wisconsin - Madison
University of California - Los Angeles came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Stanford University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physical sciences programs. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at Stanford University
University of Chicago ranked #12 on this year’s Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Chicago
Princeton University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physical sciences programs. Princeton is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Princeton.
Florida State University ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools list. Florida State is a very large public school located in the city of Tallahassee.
Yale University ranked #15 on this year’s Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Harvard University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools ranking. Located in the city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
University of Colorado Boulder did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for physical sciences students. It came in at #16 on the list. CU - Boulder is a very large public school located in the city of Boulder.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools ranking. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public school located in the city of Minneapolis.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Cornell University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physical sciences programs. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
With a ranking of #19, University of Oregon did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for physical sciences students. UO is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Eugene.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physical sciences programs. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for physical sciences students. It came in at #22 on the list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
University of Rochester did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for physical sciences students. It came in at #23 on the list. University of Rochester is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Rochester.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Rochester
New York University landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular physical sciences programs. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Physical Sciences at New York University
Ohio State University - Main Campus ranked #25 on this year’s Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools list. Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public college with a very large student population.
Full Physical Sciences at Ohio State University - Main Campus Report
Rest of the Top Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools
Remaining Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 376 different United States physical sciences schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Rice University | Houston, TX |
| 50 | Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College | Baton Rouge, LA |
| 53 | Colorado School of Mines | Golden, CO |
| 54 | Brown University | Providence, RI |
| 54 | Indiana University - Bloomington | Bloomington, IN |
| 56 | Duke University | Durham, NC |
| 56 | University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT |
Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 58 | University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz, CA |
| 59 | University of Virginia - Main Campus | Charlottesville, VA |
| 60 | University of Connecticut | Storrs, CT |
| 61 | Oregon State University | Corvallis, OR |
| 61 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL |
| 63 | University of Massachusetts Amherst | Amherst, MA |
| 63 | University of Delaware | Newark, DE |
| 65 | Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus | Atlanta, GA |
| 65 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus | Pittsburgh, PA |
| 67 | Washington University in St Louis | Saint Louis, MO |
| 68 | The University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville, TN |
| 69 | University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN |
| 69 | Florida International University | Miami, FL |
| 71 | Texas Tech University | Lubbock, TX |
| 72 | Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester, NY |
| 73 | University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA |
| 73 | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA |
| 75 | University of North Carolina at Wilmington | Wilmington, NC |
Physical Sciences by Region
View the Most Popular Physical Sciences Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
Majors Related to Physical Sciences
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 |
Majors Similar to Physical Sciences
| 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 25 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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