Physical sciences

Physical Sciences, Other

North Carolina State University at Raleigh · Raleigh, NC

Medium evidenceMatched peers12 institutions · related subjectsSee the evidence

The degree in numbers

Cost & earnings.

Annual tuition$31,767Institution-level tuition; programme fees may differ · before aid
Annual credentials awarded9Average of available recent award years; not the earnings sample size.

Earnings context

One career stage.
A clearer comparison.

USD · Doctoral · 2 years after completion
Same source release. National references exclude this degree.

Selected degree estimate$63,302
Physical sciences · national$69,338

Behind the number

Your comparison group.

Medium evidence

Related subjects at 12 matched peer institutions · doctoral

Grouped estimate. Middle half of comparison values: $62,136–$75,178.

Historical earnings archive. College Scorecard legacy FOS archive (file dated 2022-01-19; cohorts vary). Do not interpret this as today's graduate salary. Further study and career changes are not modelled by this early-career figure.

Doctoral outcomes · 2 years after completion
Institution & subjectReported earnings
University of California-DavisChemistry, Physics$84,994
University of Washington-Seattle CampusChemistry, Physics$59,916
University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignChemistry, Physics$62,876
University of Maryland-College ParkChemistry, Physics$73,424
University of Wisconsin-MadisonChemistry$63,600
University of South FloridaChemistry$57,318
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh CampusChemistry$63,005
Purdue University-Main CampusChemistry$63,005
University of California-Santa BarbaraChemistry, Physics$95,048
The University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleChemistry$49,683
Ohio State University-Main CampusChemistry$71,015
The University of Texas at AustinChemistry, Physics$80,440
How matching & uncertainty work

We first look for the same subject code (or exact subject name), qualification, country, currency, source release and earnings horizon. Peer institutions are matched using admissions selectivity, completion rates, undergraduate size and institution type, with a small preference for the same region. These are institutional proxies, not a ranking of programme quality.

If subject-matched peers are sparse, we try related subjects at closely matched universities, related degrees at this university, then an explicitly labelled national reference. We never multiply a salary by a university prestige score.

Peer and national estimates give each reporting institution one vote, after taking the median of its related programmes. Shared branch-campus outcomes count once. The middle-half range describes variation between reporting institutions. It is not an individual salary range or a statistical confidence interval.

Evidence labels describe match quality and coverage, not validated prediction accuracy. Admissions and size are undergraduate institutional measures, so graduate-degree comparisons are especially approximate.

Historical cohort outcomes are not promised salaries or a causal effect of attending this programme. College Scorecard earnings cover eligible federal-aid recipients, not every graduate or international student. Source definitions ↗