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• Step 1: Choose field
• Step 2: Set priorities
• Step 3: Your ranking of Astronomy programs

• Choosing a program
• Your application
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• Funding / Scholarships
• Other rankings
• Should you go?
• Graduate assistantships

The rankings below have been generated just for you using the priorities you set on this page. You can change your priorities or get rankings for a different field.

How to Read Your Ranking

• Programs are ranked by their score, a weighted sum of the items you chose. (Details)
• Descriptions of each item are listed at the bottom of the page. (You can also see a description by mousing over items at the top of the table.)
• Your weight for each item is shown beneath the item at the top of the table. Weights range in magnitude from 0 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
• A positive weight means that you prefer larger values for the item. A negative weight means that you prefer smaller values for the item.
• Green values are at least one standard deviation better than the mean. Red values are at least one standard deviation worse than the mean.
• Data sources can be found below.

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Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Pub / Fac (3)	Cite / Fac (3)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (-5)	# Fac (-4)	Stu / Fac (-5)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
1.	Astronomy, California Institute of Technology	37.0	6.7	87%	4.8	19.3	203.8	4.9	4.8	22	1.4	20%	775	735
2.	Astronomy, Harvard University	26.0	5.7	90%	3.9	14.2	100.1	4.5	5.0	20	1.6	9%	745	745
3.	Astrophysics, University of California-Berkeley	24.2	6.2†	89%†	4.5	16.5	137.0	4.7	3.6†	17	2.4	25%†	685†	645†
4.	Astrophysical Sciences - Astronomy, Princeton University	22.5	5.3†	100%†	4.4	13.3	99.8	4.8	6.6†	16	3.5	11%†	745†	735†
4.	Astrophysical Sciences - Plasma Physics, Princeton University	22.5	5.3†	100%†	4.4	13.3	99.8	4.8	6.6†	16	3.5	11%†	745†	735†
6.	Astronomy, Yale University	19.6	6.2	100%	3.3	10.0	83.9	3.3	1.6	10	2.0	10%	740	740
7.	Astronomy, University of Virginia-Main Campus	15.2	5.3	92%	3.2	8.8	45.6	3.2	2.6	15	0.9	38%	670	655
8.	Physics and Astronomy, Rice University	13.6	6.1*	96%*	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	2.2	18*	1.8*	25%	725	710
9.	Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago	13.2	6.2	90%	3.9	10.5	74.4	4.4	4.0	27	1.2	40%	715	725
10.	Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University	11.7	6.1*	96%*	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	2.6	18*	1.8*	30%	715	695
11.	Astronomy, Columbia University in the City of New York	10.6	6.1	88%	2.9	8.8	61.4	3.2	1.6	14	1.4	13%	725	715
12.	Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison	9.9	5.2	94%	3.5	9.3	55.3	3.5	2.6	12	2.2	71%	650	615
13.	Astronomy and Space Sciences, Cornell University	9.5	6.2	71%	4.0	15.9	74.4	4.0	3.4	25	1.4	27%	710	675
14.	Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California-Santa Cruz	8.0	6.0	80%	4.1	11.9	115.5	4.3	3.4	17	1.9	69%	585	580
15.	Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin	6.3	6.2	100%	3.4	11.9	64.5	3.7	3.2	23	1.3	51%	630	605
16.	Astronomy, University of California-Los Angeles	0.8	6.5†	79%†	3.1	14.1	73.2	3.3	3.8†	15	1.5	23%†	665†	630†
17.	Astronomy, Ohio State University-Main Campus	-2.7	5.7	93%	2.8	7.3	50.6	2.9	2.2	18	1.0	73%	580	560
18.	Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	-2.9	6.5	75%	3.2	10.3	54.1	3.5	1.6	21	1.0	68%	675	615
19.	Astronomy, University of Washington-Seattle Campus	-3.4	6.2	86%	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	3.6	18*	1.8*	67%	610	590
20.	Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	-3.5	6.2	78%	2.9	12.9	81.2	2.9	2.4	14	1.5	70%	630	600
Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Pub / Fac (3)	Cite / Fac (3)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (-5)	# Fac (-4)	Stu / Fac (-5)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
21.	Astronomy, University of Massachusetts-Amherst	-5.2	6.7	75%	3.2	14.3	133.8	3.0	1.6	14	1.8	80%	575	565
22.	Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	-6.7	5.9	81%	2.8	6.4	23.2	3.0	0.6	16	1.4	58%	610	580
23.	Astronomy/Steward Observatory, University of Arizona	-7.2	6.2†	85%†	3.7	9.7	64.9	4.1	4.4†	29	1.1	88%†	565†	560†
23.	Lunar & Planetary Lab/Space Sciences, University of Arizona	-7.2	6.2†	85%†	3.7	9.7	64.9	4.1	4.4†	29	1.1	88%†	565†	560†
25.	Astronomy, University of Maryland-College Park	-8.4	6.5	85%	3.0	9.8	67.2	3.1	3.6	19	1.6	49%	650	625
26.	Physics-Astronomy, Michigan State University	-11.2	5.1	96%*	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	12.8	18*	1.8*	76%	585	555
27.	Astronomy, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	-12.6	7.2	77%	3.0	7.5	46.8	2.7	2.2	8	1.6	57%	680	640
28.	Astronomy, University of Colorado at Boulder	-12.9	5.9	58%	3.4	12.5	83.9	3.5	4.0	16	2.1	88%	600	580
29.	Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University	-15.6	5.7	100%	2.1	5.5	14.0	1.8	1.2	6	2.3	56%	550	540
30.	Astronomy, Boston University	-20.8	6.4	73%	2.6	6.6	23.8	2.4	2.8	19	1.4	55%	655	645
31.	Astronomy, Indiana University-Bloomington	-21.9	6.9	100%	2.5	8.6	50.6	2.2	1.2	7	2.9	85%	560	550
32.	Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa	-23.0	6.7†	77%†	3.1	7.7	49.3	3.6	4.4†	32	0.9	65%†	570†	535†
33.	Astronomy, University of Florida	-34.3	5.9	53%	1.9	6.9	26.7	2.0	3.8	14	1.9	57%	640	620
34.	Astronomy, New Mexico State University-Main Campus	-43.7	6.2	76%	1.8	5.0	7.4	1.9	2.8	8	2.9	81%	500	500

Unranked Astronomy Graduate Schools

Item Descriptions

Your Score

Your customized program score is a weighted sum of points for each item. The weights were selected on this page. For an item with importance weight W, a program receives W × S points for being S standard deviations above average. Larger values are better.

Years to Degree (Yrs)

Median time lapse from entering graduate school at the doctorate-granting institution to receipt of doctorate in years. Note that time spent obtaining a master's degree at a different institution is not counted. Your weight = -4. Smaller values are better. (SED, 2000-2004)

Placement Rate (Job)

Percentage of doctorate recipients from the program with definite plans at graduation (either a job or a postdoctoral position). Your weight = 4. Larger values are better. (SED, 2000-2004)

Educational Effectiveness (Ed Eff)

Program effectiveness in educating research scholars and scientists, 1993. Scale of 0 to 5, with 0 denoting "Not Effective" and 5 denoting "Extremely Effective." Your weight = 5. Larger values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Publications per Faculty Member (Pub / Fac)

The ratio of the number of program publications in the period 1988-1992 to the number of program faculty. Your weight = 3. Larger values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Citations per Faculty Member (Cite / Fac)

The ratio of the number of citations of program publications in the period 1988-1992 to the number of program faculty. Your weight = 3. Larger values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Faculty Quality (Fac Qual)

Scholarly quality of program faculty, 1993. Scale of 0 to 5, with 0 denoting "Not sufficient for doctoral education" and 5 denoting "Distinguished." Your weight = 5. Larger values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Doctorates Granted per Year (Deg / Yr)

The average number of doctorates granted by the program per year between 2001 and 2005. Your weight = -5. Smaller values are better. (IPEDS, 2001-2005)

Number of Faculty (# Fac)

Total number of faculty participating in the program. Your weight = -4. Smaller values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Grad Student / Faculty Ratio (Stu / Fac)

The number of graduate students per faculty member. Your weight = -5. Smaller values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Undergraduate Acceptance Rate (UG Acc)

The percentage of applicants the institution accepts into its undergraduate programs. Your weight = -2. Smaller values are better. (IPEDS, 2005)

Math SAT Score (SAT-M)

The average of the 25th and 75th percentile mathematics SAT scores for undergraduates at the institution. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (IPEDS, 2005)

Verbal SAT Score (SAT-V)

The average of the 25th and 75th percentile verbal SAT scores for undergraduates at the institution. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (IPEDS, 2005)

Missing Values

Missing values have been replaced with the average value for all programs in the field.

Data Sources

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

IPEDS is an annual, comprehensive set of surveys of all colleges and universities in the United States. The surveys are conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.  Learn more

National Research Council

The National Research Council conducts assessments of doctoral programs in the United States every 10 to 15 years). The data we use are from the most recent assessment, the 1995 study Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change. Learn more about the NRC study's methods here; order a copy here. The next NRC assessment is scheduled for release in Summer 2009.  Learn more

Survey of Earned Doctorates

The NSF/NIH/NEH/USED/USDA/NASA Survey of Earned Doctorates is an annual survey of all new recipients of doctorates from US universities at graduation. The average of the response rates for the 2000–2004 surveys was 92%.  Learn more

Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

The Survey is an annual assessment of the number and characteristics of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in science, engineering, and health-related fields. It is conducted by the National Science Foundation.  Learn more