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Champaign, IL · Physics & astronomy

Physics & astronomy at Illinois

Illinois graduates about 84 physics & astronomy majors a year, 1% of its graduating class. That puts it 63rd of 525 schools we score for physics & astronomy, a standout program at 83 out of 100. Graduates in the major earn a median $81,000 four years out, 1.06× what the same major pays nationally. Research spending in the field runs about $62 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.

83/100Standout#63 of 525 for physics & astronomy →
Graduates a year841% of the class
Median pay 4 years out$81,0001.06× the same major nationally
Research in the field$62Ma year, NSF
Admit rate42%whole school
SAT middle 50%1320–1510whole school

Around Illinois

The UIUC Animal Sciences Lab, from the northwest
UIUC animal sciences lab 20081010 experiment6Photo: Experiment6 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Mount Hope Cemetery and Mausoleum gate, Urbana, IL
Mount Hope Cemetery and Mausoleum gate, Urbana, ILPhoto: Nick Number · CC BY 4.0 · source
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, United States
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, United States (Unsplash SPhoto: Dayne Topkin dtopkin1 · CC0 · source
Farm House
Farm House aka Mumford HousePhoto: Sallyajackson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Where physics & astronomy happens

Buildings on campus that fit the field: Physical Plant Service Building, Nuclear Physics Lab, Nuclear Physics Laboratory, Engineering Sciences Building, Coordinated Science Laboratory, Siebel Center for Computer Science, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Meat Science Lab, Plant Sciences Laboratory and Greenhouse, Animal Sciences Laboratory, Speech and Hearing Science Building.

Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 144 · Student housing 84 · Dorm 45 · Athletics 22 · Arts 9 · Dining 6.

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Nearby in the physics & astronomy ranking

  1. Emory University 85
  2. The University of Texas–Austin 84
  3. The Ohio State University 84
  4. Oberlin College 84
  5. University of Minnesota–Twin Cities 83
  6. Franklin & Marshall College 83
  7. University of California, Santa Barbara 82
  8. Michigan State University 82

Other strong majors at Illinois

How the score works

The score is out of 100 and compares Illinois 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.

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