In addition to meeting application requirements, you’ll have to consider how much it will cost to study at your dream school. Colleges and universities offer scholarships and financial aid, as do corporations, associations, and the government. You might be surprised by the options you discover. To help you get a sense of your baseline education costs, here are the typical tuition rates for a physics degree:

average yearly tuition as per the most recent US census data
$ 10,628 per year
Average in-state tuition in 2017

27% above average compared to other degrees

$ 27,190 per year
Average out-of-state tuition in 2017

35% above average compared to other degrees

$ 45,136 per year
Average private tuition in 2017

40% above average compared to other degrees

What do physics graduates earn?

Physics students make an average of $85,924 per year after graduation. This is 29% above average compared to other undergraduate degrees.

21% of physics graduates are underpaid (those who make less than $40,000 per year.) This rate is high compared to other degrees across the country.

$ 85,924 per year
Average graduate salary in 2017

Top 86% of degrees

21%
% of people underpaid in 2019

3% above average compared to other degrees

Satisfaction

Find out how happy the average physics student is.

Read about Satisfaction