A degree in physics is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #68 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 4 schools in Oregon to determine which ones were the best for physics students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 162 degrees in physics to qualified students.
Your choice of physics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Physics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Physics Schools in Oregon list, to help you choose the best school for you.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
The schools below may not offer all types of physics degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Every student pursuing a degree in physics needs to take a look at Oregon State University. Oregon State is a very large public university located in the small city of Corvallis. A Best Colleges rank of #238 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Oregon State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 39 physics students who graduated with this degree at Oregon State in the most recent data year. After graduating, physics degree recipients usually earn around $48,169 in their early careers.
University of Oregon is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in physics. UO is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Eugene. A Best Colleges rank of #167 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UO is a great university overall.
There were roughly 48 physics students who graduated with this degree at UO in the most recent data year.
Any student pursuing a degree in physics needs to check out Portland State University. Portland State University is a very large public university located in the large city of Portland. This university ranks 5th out of 29 schools for overall quality in the state of Oregon.
There were roughly 24 physics students who graduated with this degree at Portland State University in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the physics degree program at Portland State University make $9,793 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Willamette University is a great option for students pursuing a degree in physics. Located in the medium-sized city of Salem, Willamette is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 18th out of 29 schools for overall quality in the state of Oregon.
There were roughly 11 physics students who graduated with this degree at Willamette in the most recent year we have data available.
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 A. T. Service.
Your choice of physics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Physics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
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