Top 10 science universities in the United States

As proof of human-driven climate change continues to pile up, the need for science education seems more important than ever. Earth.com presents a list of 10 of the top U.S. universities for studying the physical sciences.

Cornell University – Cornell offers outstanding students the opportunity to do independent research supervised by faculty members in the departments of Biological & Environmental Engineering, Food Science, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, and Biological Statistics & Computational Biology.

University of California, Los Angeles – More than 50% of UCLA students graduate with science research experience. Five out of six of their current faculty Nobel laureates are from the Division of Physical Sciences.

University of Chicago – This year, the University of Chicago was nationally and regionally ranked by US News & World Report for outstanding undergraduate and graduate programs in the physical sciences.

Yale University – The third oldest institute of higher education in the country, this Ivy League research university offers degrees in Chemistry, Physics & Astronomy, Mathematics & Statistics, and Geology, Environmental, Earth, & Marine Sciences.

University of California, Berkeley – Twenty-two Nobel Prizes have been awarded to UC Berkeley’s faculty, primarily for work done in physics, chemistry, and economics.

California Institute of Technology – Caltech boasts high quality research facilities, including Jet Propulsion Laboratory, International Observatory Network, and Caltech Seismological Laboratory.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT is responsible for producing the largest number of physics graduates of any US university and is considered the best option in the country for students pursuing a degree in physics.

Princeton University – Not only does Princeton boast esteemed alumni like former First Lady Michelle Obama and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, it also offers courses in Biophysics, Computational Biology, and Engineering Physics, along with more traditional physics classes.

Stanford University – Almost half of all Stanford undergraduates take at least one physics class and the university’s graduate physics program is considered one of the best in the country.

Harvard University – As one of the world’s most prestigious universities, Harvard graduates about 50 physics majors each year, earning on average $61,000 annually at the start of their careers.

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By Darryl Joseph, Earth.com Staff Writer