2021 Best Physical Sciences Colleges for Non-Traditional Students
130Colleges
29,960Bachelor's Degrees
$36,291Avg Cost*
Finding the Best Physical Sciences Schools for Non-Traditional Students
Physical Sciences is the #18th most popular major in the country with 29,960 bachelor's degrees awarded in <nil>.
For this year's Best Physical Sciences Colleges for Non-Traditional Students ranking, we looked at 130 colleges that offer a bachelor's in physical sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality physical sciences programs as well as strong support for students classified as non-traditional.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the physical sciences program at the school, affordability, and presence of non-traditional students. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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 Physical Sciences Schools for Non-Traditional Students list to help you make the college decision.
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.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
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Featured Physical Sciences Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus tops the 2021 list of our schools in the United States that are best for non-traditional physical sciences students. Penn State University Park is a very large public school located in the city of University Park. As a testament to the quality of education offered at Penn State University Park, the school also landed the #2 rank in our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences ranking.
The student loan default rate at Penn State University Park is lower than is typical, just 0.0% of students default in three years. All of Penn State University Park students are attending part time.
Texas A&M University - College Station comes in at #2 in this year's ranking. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the city of College Station. Texas A&M College Station not only placed well in our non-traditional rankings. It is also #5 on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.6%. Approximately 24,343 students take at least one class online at Texas A&M College Station. 9,943 students are part time.
University of California - Berkeley earned the #3 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population. UC Berkeley also took the #3 spot in our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences rankings.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. There are approximately 26,398 students at UC Berkeley that take at least one class online. About 4,099 of the students at UC Berkeley are attending part time.
The #4 spot in this year's ranking belongs to University of Wisconsin - Madison. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a fairly large student population. As a testament to the quality of education offered at UW - Madison, the school also landed the #4 rank in our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences ranking.
The student loan default rate at UW - Madison is lower than is typical, just 0.2% of students default in three years. There are approximately 11,375 students at UW - Madison that take at least one class online. 4,683 students are part time.
Rutgers University - New Brunswick landed the #5 spot in our 2021 best physical sciences schools for non-traditional students. Rutgers New Brunswick is a very large public school located in the small city of New Brunswick. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, Rutgers New Brunswick is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
The student loan default rate at Rutgers New Brunswick is lower than is typical, just 1.1% of students default in three years. There are approximately 30,054 students at Rutgers New Brunswick that take at least one class online. There are roughly 7,559 part time students in attendance at Rutgers New Brunswick.
Our rankings recognize University of Arizona as the #6 school in this year's rankings. University of Arizona is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Tucson. University of Arizona excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.6%. Approximately 18,254 students take at least one class online at University of Arizona. 12,642 students are part time.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus comes in at #7 in this year's ranking. UW Seattle is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Seattle. UW Seattle also made our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list, coming in at #7.
About 0.7% of UW Seattle students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 8,815 students at UW Seattle that take at least one class online. 9,705 students are part time.
University of Colorado Boulder earned the #8 spot in our 2021 rankings. CU - Boulder is a very large public school located in the city of Boulder. CU - Boulder did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
About 1.1% of CU - Boulder students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 24,299 students take at least one class online at CU - Boulder. 7,631 students are part time.
Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #9 spot in our 2021 best physical sciences schools for non-traditional students. IU Bloomington is a fairly large public school located in the city of Bloomington. IU Bloomington also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list. It's in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
About 1.4% of IU Bloomington students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 18,013 students at IU Bloomington that take at least one class online. About 5,256 of the students at IU Bloomington are attending part time.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities comes in at #10 in this year's ranking. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis. UMN Twin Cities excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.6%. There are approximately 21,237 students at UMN Twin Cities that take at least one class online. 13,655 of UMN Twin Cities students are attending part time.
University of California - Los Angeles comes in at #11 in this year's ranking. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population. UCLA also took the #8 spot in our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences rankings.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.7%. Approximately 25,859 students take at least one class online at UCLA. There are roughly 2,161 part time students in attendance at UCLA.
Our rankings recognize Virginia Tech as the #12 school in this year's rankings. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, Virginia Tech is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
The student loan default rate at Virginia Tech is lower than is typical, just 0.5% of students default in three years. There are approximately 19,796 students at Virginia Tech that take at least one class online. 2,831 of Virginia Tech students are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize University of Virginia - Main Campus as the #13 school in this year's rankings. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, University of Virginia also did well on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list. It's in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. There are approximately 4,175 students at University of Virginia that take at least one class online. 2,758 of University of Virginia students are attending part time.
Ohio State University - Main Campus comes in at #14 in this year's ranking. Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public school with a very large student population. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Ohio State also is in the top 10% of our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences ranking.
The student loan default rate at Ohio State is lower than is typical, just 1.2% of students default in three years. Approximately 42,293 students take at least one class online at Ohio State. 8,459 students are part time.
Michigan State University earned the #15 spot in our 2021 rankings. Michigan State is a very large public school located in the city of East Lansing. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, Michigan State is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.8%. Approximately 33,526 students take at least one class online at Michigan State. About 6,517 of the students at Michigan State are attending part time.
The University of Texas at Austin earned the #16 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UT Austin also is in the top 10% of our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences ranking.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.8%. There are approximately 23,198 students at UT Austin that take at least one class online. 3,479 of UT Austin students are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as the #17 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a very large student population. UIUC also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list. It's in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
About 0.6% of UIUC students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 35,475 students at UIUC that take at least one class online. There are roughly 10,007 part time students in attendance at UIUC.
Northeastern University comes in at #18 in this year's ranking. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston. Northeastern excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Physical Sciences list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. Approximately 7,987 students take at least one class online at Northeastern. 1,267 students are part time.
San Diego State University earned the #19 spot in our 2021 rankings. SDSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Diego.
About 1.1% of SDSU students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 21,657 students take at least one class online at SDSU. 5,452 of SDSU students are attending part time.
Here are some additional great schools for non-traditional students studying Physical Sciences that almost earned our Best Physical Sciences Colleges for Non-Traditional Students award.
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).
college factual
Physical Sciences is the #18th most popular major in the country with 29,960 bachelor's degrees awarded in <nil>.
