2023 Best Physical Science Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans

With all of the options veterans have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly for Physical Sciences for a Master’s” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Physical Science is the 179th most popular major in the country with 3,823 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly for Physical Sciences for a Master’s” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in physical science. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great physical science programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the physical science program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Physical Science Schools

The physical sciences 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 “Most Veteran Friendly for Physical Sciences for a Master’s”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Most Veteran Friendly for Physical Sciences for a Master’s

The colleges and universities below are the best for master’s degree vets studying physical sciences.

Top 2 Best Physical Science Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans

1

Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, New York

1 GI Bill® Students**

#2 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly for Physical Sciences for a Master’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Rochester Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. Rochester Institute of Technology is located in Rochester, New York and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 9 masters’s physical sciences degrees to qualified students.

RIT also made our “Best Physical Science Master’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #2.Of the 16,158 students enrolled at Rochester Institute of Technology, 1 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $17,424. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Rochester Institute of Technology does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Full RIT Veteran Student Life Report

2

University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

241 GI Bill® Students**

#1 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Most Veteran Friendly for Physical Sciences for a Master’s. This fairly large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 24 masters’s physical sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

UChicago also made our “Best Physical Science Master’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #1.Among the 17,834 students enrolled at UChicago, 241 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 113 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $18,948. In addition to receiving other benefits, 58 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

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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).
• 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.