If you plan on majoring in physics, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #68 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 8 schools in Virginia to determine which ones were the best for physics students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 419 degrees in physics to qualified students.
The physics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Physics rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for physics schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
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 Physics Schools in Virginia list to help you make the college decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the physics degrees they offer, see the list below.
It is difficult to beat University of Virginia - Main Campus if you want to pursue a degree in physics. University of Virginia is a fairly large public university located in the midsize suburb of Charlottesville. A Best Colleges rank of #35 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.
There were roughly 71 physics students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent data year.
William & Mary is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in physics. William & Mary is a medium-sized public school located in the small suburb of Williamsburg. A Best Colleges rank of #103 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means William & Mary is a great school overall.
There were approximately 59 physics students who graduated with this degree at William & Mary in the most recent data year.
Any student pursuing a degree in physics needs to look into Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Blacksburg. A Best Colleges rank of #58 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Virginia Tech is a great school overall.
There were approximately 68 physics students who graduated with this degree at Virginia Tech in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the physics major at Virginia Tech get $5,105 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Virginia Commonwealth University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in physics. VCU is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Richmond. This university ranks 8th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were roughly 26 physics students who graduated with this degree at VCU in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the physics program make an average of $39,804 for their early career.
Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #92 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means GMU is a great university overall.
There were about 40 physics students who graduated with this degree at GMU in the most recent data year.
Located in the small city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 7th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were about 26 physics students who graduated with this degree at JMU in the most recent data year.
Old Dominion is a very large public university located in the city of Norfolk. This university ranks 16th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were roughly 18 physics students who graduated with this degree at Old Dominion in the most recent data year.
Located in the midsize city of University of Richmond, URichmond is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 6th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were approximately 10 physics students who graduated with this degree at URichmond 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.
The physics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Physics rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for physics schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
_main_lecture_hall_1972.jpg){kind=link}