2024 Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Virginia
9Colleges
145,221Bachelor's Degrees
$35,431Avg Cost*
Finding the Best Value Physical Sciences School for You
Physical Sciences is the #18 most popular major in Virginia with 145,221 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2021-2022. This means that colleges and universities in the state were responsible for awarding 2.7% of all the physical sciences bachelor's degrees in the country.
For this year's Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Virginia ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a bachelor's in physical sciences. Note that the phrase 'best value' does not mean the absolute lowest-priced. Instead, we are looking at those physical sciences schools that offer a high quality educational experience at a price lower than expected.
Average cost figures start with estimating tuition, fees, room and board, books, and other related expenses. We then subtract the average amount of financial aid that a student receives. You can use this as a gauge to estimate how much you may need to pay out of pocket to cover costs when financial aid isn't enough. Keep in mind that the net cost for you may be higher or lower, depending on your income and other factors.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Value Physical Sciences Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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.
2024 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia
The following schools top our list of the Best Physical Sciences Colleges for the Money.
Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor's in Virginia
Virginia Tech earned the #1 spot in our 2024 rankings. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Blacksburg. As a testament to the quality of education offered at Virginia Tech, the school also landed the #3 rank in our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia ranking.
The average student at Virginia Tech graduates in less than 4.3 years, and it costs about $33,193 per year to attend the school. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech is $142,066. When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.
The #2 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Richmond. VCU also took the #4 spot in our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia rankings.
At VCU, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.4 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $37,513. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from VCU is $165,057. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Our rankings recognize University of Virginia - Main Campus as the #3 school in this year's rankings. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville. University of Virginia also took the #1 spot in our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia rankings.
It takes the average student at University of Virginia about 4.1 years to graduate, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $42,175. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from University of Virginia is $171,230. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
The #4 spot in this year's ranking belongs to George Mason University. GMU is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Fairfax. GMU did well in our quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia list.
It takes the average student at GMU about 4.4 years to graduate, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $39,607. This means that the average student pays around $172,687 to get a bachelor’s degree from GMU. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
The #5 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Christopher Newport University. CNU is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Newport News. CNU also took the #6 spot in our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia rankings.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to receive their degree at CNU is 4.1 years, and it costs about $34,007 per year to attend the school. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from CNU is $140,789. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
The #6 spot in this year's ranking belongs to University of Mary Washington. UMW is a small public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Fredericksburg. In addition to being on our best value list, UMW has also earned the #7 rank in our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia ranking.
At UMW, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.2 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $34,942. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from UMW is $145,708. When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.
James Madison University comes in at #7 in this year's ranking. Located in the small city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public college with a very large student population. As a testament to the quality of education offered at JMU, the school also landed the #9 rank in our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia ranking.
At JMU, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.2 years, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $33,962. This means that the average student pays around $142,640 to get a bachelor’s degree from JMU. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
Radford University comes in at #8 in this year's ranking. Located in the suburb of Radford, Radford is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
The average student at Radford graduates in less than 4.3 years, and it costs about $24,936 per year to attend the school. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from Radford is $107,474. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Our rankings recognize William & Mary as the #9 school in this year's rankings. William & Mary is a moderately-sized public school located in the small suburb of Williamsburg. As a testament to the quality of education offered at William & Mary, the school also landed the #2 rank in our Best Physical Sciences Schools in Virginia ranking.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to receive their degree at William & Mary is 4.1 years, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $38,546. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from William & Mary is about $156,497. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.
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).
Physical Sciences is the #18 most popular major in Virginia with 145,221 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2021-2022. This means that colleges and universities in the state were responsible for awarding 2.7% of all the physical sciences bachelor's degrees in the country.
