If you pursue a doctor's degree in chemistry, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #11 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Chemistry Doctor's Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 135 doctor's degrees in chemistry during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Choosing a Great Chemistry School for Your Doctor's Degree
The chemistry doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to chemistry students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other chemistry students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for chemistry to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized chemistry related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for chemistry students working on their doctor's degree.
The chemistry 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 the Best Chemistry Doctor's Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region.
Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Chemistry in the Rocky Mountains Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in chemistry.
Top Rocky Mountains Region Schools for a Doctorate in Chemistry
It's difficult to beat Colorado State University - Fort Collins if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in chemistry. Located in the medium-sized city of Fort Collins, Colorado State is a public university with a very large student population.
Doctorate recipients from the chemistry program at Colorado State University - Fort Collins make $6,369 more than the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
University of Colorado Boulder is a great decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in chemistry. Located in the medium-sized city of Boulder, CU - Boulder is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their doctorate from the chemistry program report average early career earnings of $72,394.
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.
The chemistry doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
