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2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

5 Ranked Colleges
112 Degrees Awarded
$17,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Getting Aid

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Astronomy & Astrophysics is the 222nd most popular major in the country with 1,268 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, astronomy and astrophysics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $27,700 and had an average of $21,346 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 153 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $14,817 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 112 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality astronomy and astrophysics programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the astronomy and astrophysics program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools

The astronomy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in California (With Aid)

#1

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #1 spot on the list. University of California - Los Angeles is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 19 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree astronomy students with aid list, UCLA has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $14,279 for california bachelor’s degree astronomy students with aid per year to attend UCLA.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at UCLA

#2

San Diego State University

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. San Diego State University is a large school located in San Diego, California that handed out 3 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

SDSU also took the #5 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for San Diego State University is $14,788 for california bachelor’s degree astronomy students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at San Diego State University

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #3 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a large school located in Berkeley, California that handed out 53 bachelors’s astronomy degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #3 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UC Berkeley is $15,329 for California Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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 full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of California - Berkeley

#4

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Santa Cruz. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Santa Cruz, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s astronomy degrees to 28 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree astronomy students with aid list, UC Santa Cruz has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $18,186 for California Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid per year to attend University of California - Santa Cruz.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of California - Santa Cruz Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#5

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of Technology. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Pasadena, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s astronomy degrees to 8 students in 2019-2020.

Caltech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Caltech is $24,274 for California Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students with aid.

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 low student loan default rate of 1.0% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at California Institute of Technology

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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).
  • 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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