2023 Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans
8
Ranked Colleges
55
Degrees Awarded
$35,600
Avg Cost*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate” ranking is part of that endeavor.
In 2020-2021, 994 people earned their degree in engineering and applied physics, making the major the 448th most popular in the United States.
For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in engineering and applied physics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality engineering and applied physics programs as well as strong veteran support.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the engineering and applied physics program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate
The colleges and universities below are the best for doctor’s degree vets studying applied physics.
Top 8 Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Cornell University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate list. Cornell is a large school located in Ithaca, New York that handed out 11 doctorate’s applied physics degrees in 2020-2021.
Cornell not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” list.According to our most recent data, Cornell University supports 23,620 students, and 2 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 2 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $12,780. During this same period, 2 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read More…
Out of the 8 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Daytona Beach, Florida, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 1 degrees to qualified doctorate’s applied physics students in 2020-2021.
Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach also made our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #8.Among the 8,797 students enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach, 789 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 521 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $18,573. During this same period, 347 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach does offer credit for military training for eligible students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
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Out of the 8 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Diego landed the #3 spot on the list. UCSD is a large public school situated in La Jolla, California. It awarded 4 doctorate’s applied physics degrees in 2020-2021.
UCSD also took the #6 spot in our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” ranking.Among the 39,576 students enrolled at University of California - San Diego, 112 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 54 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $1,596. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at UCSD]](/colleges/university-of-california-san-diego/student-life/veterans/)
Out of the 8 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #4 spot on the list. University of Virginia - Main Campus is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1 doctorate’s applied physics degrees to qualified students.
University of Virginia not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” list.Of the 25,628 students enrolled at University of Virginia - Main Campus, 3 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 0 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $0. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Virginia - Main Campus Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia University in the City of New York. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate list. Columbia is located in New York, New York and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 doctorate’s applied physics degrees to qualified students.
Columbia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” list.Of the 30,135 students enrolled at Columbia University in the City of New York, 739 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 467 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $22,069. During this same period, 328 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Columbia Veteran Student Life Report
Rice University ranked #6 on this year’s Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate list. This medium-sized school is located in Houston, Texas, and it awarded 8 doctorate’s applied physics degrees in 2020-2021.
Rice did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” list.Of the 7,643 students enrolled at Rice, 157 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 80 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $18,656. In addition to receiving other benefits, 68 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read More…
Northwestern University ranked #7 on this year’s Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate list. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 6 doctorate’s applied physics degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our doctor’s degree vets studying applied physics list, Northwestern has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” ranking.Among the 22,603 students enrolled at Northwestern, 1 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $399. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
[Read full report on veteran student life at Northwestern University]](/colleges/northwestern-university/student-life/veterans/)
Harvard University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly for Applied Physics for a Doctorate ranking. Harvard is a private not-for-profit institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Harvard also made our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #5.Among the 30,391 students enrolled at Harvard University, 304 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 254 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $8,012. On top of their other funding sources, 1 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Full Harvard University Veteran Student Life Report
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
- **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
Credits
- Credit for the banner image above goes to NASA.
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