2025 Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Great Lakes Region
6Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
247Astronomy Degrees Awarded
$40,467Avg Early-Career Salary
Astronomy & Astrophysics is about average in terms of popularity for degree programs. That is, it ranks #219 out of the 395 majors across the country that we analyze each year. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.
College Factual looked at 6 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 247 degrees in astronomy & astrophysics to qualified students.
The astronomy program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Astronomy & Astrophysics rankings. We derive our Best Overall Astronomy & Astrophysics School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
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Best Schools for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Great Lakes Region
The schools below may not offer all types of astronomy degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Every student who is interested in astronomy & astrophysics has to look into Ohio State University - Main Campus. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were roughly 44 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year.
Every student pursuing a degree in astronomy & astrophysics has to take a look at University of Wisconsin - Madison. UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 35 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year.
It is hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you want to pursue a degree in astronomy & astrophysics. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. This university ranks 3rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 22 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available.
Any student pursuing a degree in astronomy & astrophysics has to take a look at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were roughly 28 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were roughly 20 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available.
Michigan State is a very large public university located in the small city of East Lansing. This university ranks 2nd out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were roughly 23 astronomy & astrophysics students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent data year. After graduation, astronomy degree recipients usually earn about $33,373 in their early careers.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
The astronomy program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Astronomy & Astrophysics rankings. We derive our Best Overall Astronomy & Astrophysics School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
