2023 Best Astronomy Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Far Western US Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, veterans have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Astronomical Sciences for a Doctorate” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Astronomy is the 479th most popular major in the country with 765 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Far Western US region, there were 123 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Astronomical Sciences for a Doctorate” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in astronomy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great astronomy programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the astronomy program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Astronomical Sciences for a Doctorate” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Astronomical Sciences for a Doctorate

The colleges and universities below are the best for far western us region doctor’s degree vets studying astronomical sciences.

Top 2 Best Astronomy Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Far Western US Region

1

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, Washington

1,283 GI Bill® Students**

#2 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Astronomical Sciences for a Doctorate list. This large school is located in Seattle, Washington, and it awarded 5 doctorate’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

UW Seattle did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Astronomy Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.Of the 48,149 students enrolled at University of Washington - Seattle Campus, 1,283 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 769 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $14,190. During this same period, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. University of Washington - Seattle Campus offers credit for military training for eligible students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

[Read full report on veteran student life at UW Seattle]](/colleges/university-of-washington-seattle-campus/student-life/veterans/)

2

University of California - Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California

273 GI Bill® Students**

#1 in overall quality

$8,631 Average GI Bill® Award

Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Astronomical Sciences for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #2 spot on the list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large school located in Santa Cruz, California that handed out 6 doctorate’s astronomical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

UC Santa Cruz also took the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 273 of the 19,161 students enrolled at UC Santa Cruz were GI Bill® students, of which 114 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $8,631. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Read More…

• Best Astronomy Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans

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

Footnotes

• *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.