Here is a list of Ph.D. programs in the U.S. and Canada offering research opportunities in astronomy. Only a subset (~45) offer the astronomy Ph.D (all called "astronomy" in the table regardless of the exact name of the degree), with the rest primarily physics Ph.D.s. Please check them out using the links below, or add your program if missing! The number of astro faculty listed is an estimate (just to give a sense of the number of possible advisors) and may have changed: please update if new info is available, or to fix broken links. The notes are very incomplete, but you may find them useful.
| Institution |
Program |
# astro faculty |
Notes |
| Alabama |
Physics Ph.D. (astronomy specialization) |
|
|
| Alabama (Huntsville) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
Near NASA/Marshall |
| Alberta (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
strong in compact obects |
|
Appalachian State
|
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Arizona |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
39 |
lots of astronomers at NOIRLab nearby; extensive obs resources; also planetary sci. Ph.D. program |
| Arizona State |
Astrophysics Ph.D. |
|
astronomers in a dept with geo and planetary people |
| Boston U |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Brandeis |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
radio AGN focus |
| Brigham Young (BYU) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| British Columbia (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Brown |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
focus on cosmology |
| Calgary (Canada) |
Physcis Ph.D. |
2 |
|
| Caltech |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
extraordinary resources |
| Carnegie Mellon |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
focused on cosmology and galaxies |
| Case Western |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Central Florida |
Planetary Sciences Ph.D. |
|
planetary focus |
| Chicago |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
strong in cosmology, galaxies, exoplanets |
| Cincinnati |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Clemson |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Colorado |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
traditional strengths in planetary and ISM |
| Columbia |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
dynamics, stars, compact objects, simulations |
| Connecticut |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Cornell |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
big in radio |
| City University of New York (CUNY) |
Physics Ph.D. |
15 |
|
| Dartmouth |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Delaware |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
strong in data science |
| Denver |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Drexel |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Florida |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Florida Tech |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Florida State |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| George Mason |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
space weather |
| George Washington |
Physics Ph.D. |
6 |
|
| Georgia |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Georgia State |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
optical interferometry |
| Georgia Tech |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
compact objects/sims |
| Harvard |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
many additional astronomers at SAO |
| Hawaii (Honolulu) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
strong obs resources |
| Houston |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Idaho |
Physics Ph.D. |
3 |
|
| Illinois (UIUC) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
additional theory faculty in physics |
| Indiana |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Iowa |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Iowa State |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Johns Hopkins |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
across street from STScI (HST/JWST), good in data science |
| Kansas |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Kentucky |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Lehigh |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Louisiana State |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Louisville |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Manitoba (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
5 |
|
| Maryland |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
strong in high-energy, close connections NASA/Goddard |
| Maryland (Baltimore County) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
many Goddard scientists have appointments here |
| Massachusetts (Amherst) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| McGill (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
compact objects, exoplanets |
| McMaster (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Michigan |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Michigan State |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
compact objects, exoplanets, galaxies, sims |
| Michigan Tech |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Minnesota |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Mississippi |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
gravitational waves |
|
Mississippi State
|
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Missouri (Columbia) |
Physics Ph.D. |
4 |
|
| Missouri (St. Louis) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| MIT |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Montana State |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
compact objects, solar |
| Nebraska |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Nevada (Las Vegas) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Nevada (Reno) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| New Mexico |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
radio astronomy focus |
| New Mexico State |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| New Mexico Tech |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
next to VLA, radio focus |
| North Carolina |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| North Carolina State |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
supernovae, nuclear astro |
| Northern Arizona |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
astro, space science |
| Northwestern |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
compact objects, transients |
| Notre Dame |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
nuclear astro |
| New York Univ |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
data science, surveys |
| Ohio State |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Ohio Univ |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Oklahoma |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Oklahoma State |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Penn State |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
exoplanets, high energy |
| Penn |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
cosmology, galaxies |
| Pittsburgh |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
galaxies |
| Princeton |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Purdue |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Queen's (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
5 |
|
| Rensselaer Poly (RPI) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Rice |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Rochester Institute of Tech (RIT) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Rutgers |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Saint Mary's (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
7 |
|
| Saskatchewan (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
6 |
focus on space science |
| South Carolina |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Southern Mississippi |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Stanford |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Stonybrook |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
strong in computation |
| Tennessee |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Texas (Austin) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Texas A&M |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Texas (San Antonio) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Texas Christian |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Texas Tech |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
compact objects, transients |
| Toledo |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Toronto (Canada) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Tufts |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| UC Berkeley |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| UC Davis |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
galaxies, cosmology |
| UC Irvine |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
galaxies, dark matter |
| UC Los Angeles |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| UC Merced |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| UC Riverside |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| UC San Diego |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
galaxies, cosmology, cool stars |
| UC Santa Barbara |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
strong in theory |
| UC Santa Cruz |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| U Southern Cal (USC) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Utah |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Vanderbilt |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Victoria (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
7 |
|
| Virginia |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
strong links to NRAO, radio/star formation |
| Virginia Tech |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Washington |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Washington (St. Louis) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
many in space sciecne |
| Washington State |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Wayne State |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| West Virginia |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
puslars/gravitational waves |
| Western Ontario (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Wisconsin (Madison) |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| Wisconsin (Milwaukee) |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
compact objects |
| Wyoming |
Physics Ph.D. |
|
|
| Yale |
Astronomy Ph.D. |
|
|
| York (Canada) |
Physics Ph.D. |
11 |
|