2025 Best Materials Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Materials Sciences is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #100 most popular doctor's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 2 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Materials Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 72 doctor's degrees in materials sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

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 materials sciences students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of materials 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 much debt materials sciences students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized materials sciences related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for materials sciences students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Materials Sciences Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Materials Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Materials Sciences in the Far Western US Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in materials sciences.

Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Doctorate in Materials Science

1

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

31 Annual Graduates

University of California - Berkeley is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in materials sciences. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in materials sciences from University of California - Berkeley

2

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

22 Annual Graduates

University of California - Santa Barbara is a great option for students interested in a doctor's degree in materials sciences. UCSB is a very large public university located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a doctorate in materials sciences from University of California - Santa Barbara

Best Materials Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best materials sciences colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	180	46
Washington	122	0
Oregon	107	3

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Rankings in Majors Related to Materials Science

One of 8 majors within the Physical Sciences area of study, Materials Sciences has other similar majors worth exploring.

Materials Science Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Materials Science	72

Most Popular Majors Related to Materials Science

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Chemistry	505
Physics	343
Geological & Earth Sciences	190
Astronomy & Astrophysics	39
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	23
Other Physical Science	4

Notes and References

• 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.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Per Henning. More about our data sources and methodologies.