by our College Data Analytics TeamIn 2025, College Factual analyzed 62 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Physics Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,046 doctor's degrees in physics during the <nil> academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
The physics doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for 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 Physics Doctor's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in physics. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It is difficult to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in physics. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.More information about a doctorate in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in physics needs to look into Cornell University. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in physics from Cornell University
It is hard to beat University of Michigan - Ann Arbor if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in physics. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.
Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the physics program make about $95,584 in their early career salary.
More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in physics needs to check out Duke University. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in physics from Duke University
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a doctorate in physics from Columbia University in the City of New York
Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.
Physics doctor's degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley receive an earnings boost of approximately $8,419 over the typical income of physics majors.
More information about a doctorate in physics from University of California - Berkeley
University of Rochester is a large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Rochester.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Rochester
Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Notre Dame
UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of California - Santa Barbara
University of Arizona is a very large public university located in the large city of Tucson.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Arizona
Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their doctorate from the physics program state that they receive average early career income of $89,022.
More information about a doctorate in physics from University of California - San Diego
Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physics from Johns Hopkins University
Here are some additional great schools for Physics students that almost earned our Best Physics Doctor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 20 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
View the Best Physics Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
Physics is one of 8 different types of Physical Sciences programs to choose from.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General Physics | 1,879 |
| Optics/Optical Sciences | 76 |
| Other Physics | 76 |
| Acoustics | 9 |
| Condensed Matter & Materials Physics | 5 |
| Atomic/Molecular Physics | 1 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | 3,103 |
| Geological & Earth Sciences | 766 |
| Astronomy & Astrophysics | 259 |
| Materials Sciences | 209 |
| Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology | 136 |
| Other Physical Science | 34 |
| Physics and Astronomy | 17 |
| General Physical Sciences | 11 |
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