Physics & astronomy at Caltech
Caltech graduates about 30 physics & astronomy majors a year, 14% of its graduating class. That puts it 2nd of 525 schools we score for physics & astronomy, a standout program at 99 out of 100. Research spending in the field runs about $156 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.
Where physics & astronomy happens
Buildings on campus that fit the field: Linde Laboratory for Global Environmental Science, Arms Laboratory of the Geological Sciences, Downs Laboratory of Physics, Bridge Laboratory of Physics West, Bridge Laboratory of Physics Annex, Bridge Laboratory of Physics East, Linde Hall of Mathematics and Physics, Chen Neuroscience Research Building, Powell-Booth Laboratory for Computational Science, Lauritsen Laboratory of High Energy Physics, Firestone Flight Sciences Laboratory, Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology.
Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 36 · Student housing 22 · Dorm 8 · Athletics 4 · Dining 2 · Library 2.
Nearby in the physics & astronomy ranking
Other strong majors at Caltech
- Engineering (all) 97 · #2
- Computer science 91 · #29
- Math & statistics 89 · #38
- Mechanical engineering 83 · #24
- Biology 60 · #275
- Neuroscience 60 · #121
How the score works
The score is out of 100 and compares Caltech with every school we score in physics & astronomy. It weighs the school's overall strength; how many students graduate in the major and what share of the class they are; research spending in the field (NSF); early pay against the same major nationally; how many courses the catalog lists; and test scores. 80+ is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Sources: US Department of Education (College Scorecard, IPEDS), NSF HERD, each school's current course catalog, OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia Commons.