2025 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region
4
Colleges in the Southwest Region
138
Doctor's Degrees
Geological & Earth Sciences is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #37 most popular doctor's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 138 doctor's degrees in geological & earth sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Geological & Earth Sciences School for Your Doctor's Degree
Your choice of geological & earth sciences for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality geology program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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 college'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 Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
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 geological & earth sciences students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of geological & earth sciences students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
- 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 geological & earth sciences 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 geological & earth sciences related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for geological & earth sciences students working on their doctor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Geological & Earth Sciences Schools
The geology 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 Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region.