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

• Choosing a program
• Your application
• Taking the GRE
• 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 (5)	Stu / Fac (-2)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
1.	Astronomy, California Institute of Technology	45.3	6.7	87%	4.8	19.3	203.8	4.9	4.8	22	1.4	20%	775	735
2.	Astrophysical Sciences - Astronomy, Princeton University	38.8	5.3†	100%†	4.4	13.3	99.8	4.8	6.6†	16	3.5	11%†	745†	735†
2.	Astrophysical Sciences - Plasma Physics, Princeton University	38.8	5.3†	100%†	4.4	13.3	99.8	4.8	6.6†	16	3.5	11%†	745†	735†
4.	Astronomy, Harvard University	33.3	5.7	90%	3.9	14.2	100.1	4.5	5.0	20	1.6	9%	745	745
5.	Astrophysics, University of California-Berkeley	25.4	6.2†	89%†	4.5	16.5	137.0	4.7	3.6†	17	2.4	25%†	685†	645†
6.	Physics-Astronomy, Michigan State University	24.2	5.1	96%*	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	12.8	18*	1.8*	76%	585	555
6.	Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago	24.2	6.2	90%	3.9	10.5	74.4	4.4	4.0	27	1.2	40%	715	725
8.	Astronomy and Space Sciences, Cornell University	16.4	6.2	71%	4.0	15.9	74.4	4.0	3.4	25	1.4	27%	710	675
9.	Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin	9.3	6.2	100%	3.4	11.9	64.5	3.7	3.2	23	1.3	51%	630	605
10.	Astronomy/Steward Observatory, University of Arizona	7.7	6.2†	85%†	3.7	9.7	64.9	4.1	4.4†	29	1.1	88%†	565†	560†
10.	Lunar & Planetary Lab/Space Sciences, University of Arizona	7.7	6.2†	85%†	3.7	9.7	64.9	4.1	4.4†	29	1.1	88%†	565†	560†
12.	Physics and Astronomy, Rice University	7.6	6.1*	96%*	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	2.2	18*	1.8*	25%	725	710
13.	Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University	7.2	6.1*	96%*	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	2.6	18*	1.8*	30%	715	695
14.	Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California-Santa Cruz	6.2	6.0	80%	4.1	11.9	115.5	4.3	3.4	17	1.9	69%	585	580
15.	Astronomy, University of Virginia-Main Campus	3.4	5.3	92%	3.2	8.8	45.6	3.2	2.6	15	0.9	38%	670	655
16.	Astronomy, Yale University	1.8	6.2	100%	3.3	10.0	83.9	3.3	1.6	10	2.0	10%	740	740
17.	Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison	-0.4	5.2	94%	3.5	9.3	55.3	3.5	2.6	12	2.2	71%	650	615
18.	Astronomy, University of California-Los Angeles	-3.8	6.5†	79%†	3.1	14.1	73.2	3.3	3.8†	15	1.5	23%†	665†	630†
19.	Astronomy, University of Washington-Seattle Campus	-3.9	6.2	86%	3.4*	10.9*	74.4*	3.5*	3.6	18*	1.8*	67%	610	590
20.	Astronomy, Columbia University in the City of New York	-4.3	6.1	88%	2.9	8.8	61.4	3.2	1.6	14	1.4	13%	725	715
Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Pub / Fac (3)	Cite / Fac (3)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (5)	# Fac (5)	Stu / Fac (-2)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
21.	Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa	-5.0	6.7†	77%†	3.1	7.7	49.3	3.6	4.4†	32	0.9	65%†	570†	535†
22.	Astronomy, University of Maryland-College Park	-8.0	6.5	85%	3.0	9.8	67.2	3.1	3.6	19	1.6	49%	650	625
23.	Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	-10.1	6.5	75%	3.2	10.3	54.1	3.5	1.6	21	1.0	68%	675	615
24.	Astronomy, Ohio State University-Main Campus	-11.7	5.7	93%	2.8	7.3	50.6	2.9	2.2	18	1.0	73%	580	560
25.	Astronomy, University of Colorado at Boulder	-12.8	5.9	58%	3.4	12.5	83.9	3.5	4.0	16	2.1	88%	600	580
26.	Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	-14.9	6.2	78%	2.9	12.9	81.2	2.9	2.4	14	1.5	70%	630	600
27.	Astronomy, University of Massachusetts-Amherst	-18.4	6.7	75%	3.2	14.3	133.8	3.0	1.6	14	1.8	80%	575	565
28.	Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	-22.9	5.9	81%	2.8	6.4	23.2	3.0	0.6	16	1.4	58%	610	580
29.	Astronomy, Boston University	-24.3	6.4	73%	2.6	6.6	23.8	2.4	2.8	19	1.4	55%	655	645
30.	Astronomy, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	-32.4	7.2	77%	3.0	7.5	46.8	2.7	2.2	8	1.6	57%	680	640
31.	Astronomy, University of Florida	-38.5	5.9	53%	1.9	6.9	26.7	2.0	3.8	14	1.9	57%	640	620
32.	Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University	-39.0	5.7	100%	2.1	5.5	14.0	1.8	1.2	6	2.3	56%	550	540
33.	Astronomy, Indiana University-Bloomington	-41.4	6.9	100%	2.5	8.6	50.6	2.2	1.2	7	2.9	85%	560	550
34.	Astronomy, New Mexico State University-Main Campus	-55.5	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. Larger values are better. (IPEDS, 2001-2005)

Number of Faculty (# Fac)

Total number of faculty participating in the program. Your weight = 5. Larger values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Grad Student / Faculty Ratio (Stu / Fac)

The number of graduate students per faculty member. Your weight = -2. 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