🎓

Best Colleges for Physics

50 Physics programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $131,025. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$131,025	$18,500	67	90.5
2	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$118,649	$15,961	53	89.6
3	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	Master's Degree	$179,750	—	70	89.5
4	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$96,215	$13,590	89	86.8
5	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$103,477	$17,150	48	86.4
6	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Doctoral Degree	$177,589	—	34	85.7
7	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$96,043	$15,000	99	85.4
8	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$178,137	—	23	84.9
9	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	Doctoral Degree	$165,099	—	32	84.4
10	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Doctoral Degree	$163,024	—	34	84.3
11	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Doctoral Degree	$141,253	—	42	83.3
12	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Doctoral Degree	$159,892	—	24	82.8
13	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Doctoral Degree	$166,997	—	16	82.8
14	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	Master's Degree	$127,533	—	47	81.5
15	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Doctoral Degree	$132,984	—	38	81.5
16	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Doctoral Degree	$141,034	—	28	81.4
17	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$95,018	$18,000	53	81.3
18	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA	Master's Degree	$150,865	—	13	79.9
19	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Doctoral Degree	$136,420	—	17	79.4
20	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Doctoral Degree	$120,347	—	35	79.3
21	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA	Master's Degree	$150,865	—	7	77.9
22	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$110,029	$21,500	33	77.8
23	Whitworth University Spokane, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$99,842	$19,500	16	76.9
24	Appalachian State University Boone, NC	Master's Degree	$111,173	—	17	76.2
25	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$92,826	$19,500	49	75.4
26	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	Master's Degree	$124,295	—	11	75.3
27	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Master's Degree	$106,130	—	15	74.4
28	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$94,543	$21,500	65	74.2
29	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$90,900	$19,500	71	74
30	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$92,293	$21,148	63	73.6
31	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$99,165	—	17	73
32	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$96,805	$23,886	51	72.5
33	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$96,138	—	22	71.8
34	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$85,219	$15,965	161	71.7
35	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$91,650	—	66	71.3
36	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$93,914	—	26	70.2
37	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR	Bachelor's Degree	$103,167	$24,250	20	69.7
38	Le Moyne College Syracuse, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$99,009	—	8	69.3
39	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	Bachelor's Degree	$88,207	$20,500	43	68.3
40	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA	Master's Degree	$95,208	—	11	67.9
41	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$85,708	$21,000	79	66.5
42	Utah State University Logan, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$93,461	—	9	65.5
43	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR	Bachelor's Degree	$103,167	$24,250	0	65
44	Willamette University Salem, OR	Bachelor's Degree	$89,506	$19,500	11	64.8
45	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$91,438	$21,677	15	64.7
46	Southern Arkansas University Main Campus Magnolia, AR	Bachelor's Degree	$89,685	$22,250	31	64.2
47	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$92,746	$26,224	51	63.4
48	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$81,840	$20,270	50	62.9
49	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$87,856	$23,000	42	62.7
50	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,569	$14,354	58	62.6

🔍 Filter Physics by state & degree level →

💎

Hidden Gems for Physics

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Physics — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$150,865	91%	79.9
2	Whitworth University Spokane, WA Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$99,842	90%	76.9
3	Appalachian State University Boone, NC Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$111,173	90%	76.2
4	University of Oregon Eugene, OR Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$124,295	88%	75.3
5	George Mason University Fairfax, VA Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$96,138	87%	71.8
6	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$93,914	72%	70.2
7	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$103,167	77%	69.7
8	Le Moyne College Syracuse, NY Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$99,009	83%	69.3
9	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$95,208	83%	67.9
10	Utah State University Logan, UT Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$93,461	92%	65.5
11	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$103,167	63%	65
12	Willamette University Salem, OR Strong Physics outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$89,506	77%	64.8

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Physics field (CIP 40.08) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Physics programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Physics program?+

By our outcome score, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts) ranks #1 for Physics, with median graduate earnings of $131,025.

How are these Physics programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Physics programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

🔍 Physics rankings (filterable)🎓 All major rankings 🏫 Browse colleges 🆓 Tuition-free colleges ⭐ All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.