2025 Best Physics Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Ranked #16 in popularity, physics is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 11 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for physics students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 345 doctor's degrees in physics to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Physics School for Your Doctor's Degree

The physics doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on physics students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of physics students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt physics students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized physics related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for physics students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Physics Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Physics Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Physics in the Southeast Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in physics.

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Doctorate in Physics

1

Duke University
Durham, NC

22 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in physics has to look into Duke University. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in physics from Duke University

2

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

14 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in physics needs to look into University of Virginia - Main Campus. University of Virginia is a very large public university located in the suburb of Charlottesville.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Virginia - Main Campus

3

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

11 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in physics. Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

4

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

20 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in physics has to look into University of Florida. UF is a fairly large public university located in the city of Gainesville.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Florida

5

University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR

13 Annual Graduates

UARK is a fairly large public university located in the city of Fayetteville.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Arkansas

6

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC

19 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physics from North Carolina State University

7

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus
Atlanta, GA

18 Annual Graduates

Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a doctorate in physics from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

8

Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

25 Annual Graduates

Florida State is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Tallahassee.More information about a doctorate in physics from Florida State University

9

Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Baton Rouge, LA

13 Annual Graduates

Louisiana State University is a very large public university located in the city of Baton Rouge.More information about a doctorate in physics from Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

10

University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL

15 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physics from University of Central Florida

Best Physics Colleges by State

Explore the best physics schools for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	138	74
Virginia	127	43
Georgia	126	30
North Carolina	115	47
Mississippi	113	5
Louisiana	103	21
Tennessee	102	19
Alabama	98	14
South Carolina	91	19
Kentucky	87	7
Arkansas	58	6
West Virginia	49	8

View All Rankings >

Physics Related Rankings by Major

Physics is one of 8 different types of Physical Sciences programs to choose from.

Physics Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Physics	324
Other Physics	13
Optics/Optical Sciences	8

Most Popular Majors Related to Physics

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Chemistry	589
Geological & Earth Sciences	130
Materials Sciences	42
Other Physical Science	28
Astronomy & Astrophysics	26
Physics and Astronomy	17
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	12
General Physical Sciences	9

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to A. T. Service. More about our data sources and methodologies.