2022 Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 59 people earned their degree in planetary astronomy and science, making the major the 1071st most popular in the United States.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 17 planetary astronomy and science graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in planetary astronomy and science. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent planetary astronomy and science programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the planetary astronomy and science program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Planetary Astronomy & Science Schools

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 “Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Planetary Astronomy & Science (Income $30-$48k)

#1

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$1,010 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Harvard University landed the #1 spot on the list. Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science degrees to qualified students.

Harvard also made our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend Harvard is $1,010 for bachelor’s degree planetary astronomy and science students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 1.1% 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%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Harvard Planetary Astronomy & Science Report

#2

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California

#1 in overall quality

$3,756 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California Institute of Technology. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k. Pasadena, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Caltech, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California Institute of Technology is $3,756 for bachelor’s degree planetary astronomy and science students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Read full report on Planetary Astronomy & Science at Caltech

#3

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#3 in overall quality

$9,130 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Planetary Astronomy and Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #3 spot on the list. University of California - Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 3 bachelors’s planetary astronomy and science degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Planetary Astronomy & Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for UC Berkeley is $9,130 for Bachelor’s Degree Planetary Astronomy and Science students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.7% 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 more about Planetary Astronomy & Science at UC Berkeley

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).
• 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

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• 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.

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