by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 59 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for general physics students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,879 doctor's degrees in general physics during the <nil> academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
The general physics doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality general physics program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for general physics students working on their doctor's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best General Physics Doctor's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for general physics students seeking a a doctor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in general physics. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cornell University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in general physics. Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Ithaca.More information about a doctorate in general physics from Cornell University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is a great decision for students interested in a doctor's degree in general physics. U-M is a very large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor.More information about a doctorate in general physics from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Duke University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in general physics. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in general physics from Duke University
Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in general physics from Columbia University in the City of New York
UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in general physics from University of California - Berkeley
Located in the medium-sized city of Rochester, University of Rochester is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general physics from University of Rochester
Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in general physics from University of Notre Dame
Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in general physics from University of California - Santa Barbara
Located in the city of Tucson, University of Arizona is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in general physics from University of Arizona
UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla.More information about a doctorate in general physics from University of California - San Diego
Here are some additional great schools for General Physics students that almost earned our Best General Physics Doctor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD |
| 13 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities | Minneapolis, MN |
| 14 | Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus, OH |
| 15 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 16 | University of California - Irvine | Irvine, CA |
| 17 | University of Virginia - Main Campus | Charlottesville, VA |
| 18 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
| 19 | University of California - Davis | Davis, CA |
View the Best General Physics Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
General Physics is one of 9 different types of Physics programs to choose from.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Optics/Optical Sciences | 76 |
| Other Physics | 76 |
| Acoustics | 9 |
| Condensed Matter & Materials Physics | 5 |
| Atomic/Molecular Physics | 1 |
_main_lecture_hall_1972.jpg){kind=link}