Masters/Bridge Graduate Programs

 

Graduate Programs in US Offering Terminal Masters Degrees

Astronomy

• Wesleyan University (Connecticut, USA)
• San Diego State University (California, USA)
• New Mexico State University (New Mexico, USA)
• City University of New York (New York, USA)

Physics & Astronomy

• Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH, USA)
• Texas A&M-Commerce (Commerce, TX, USA)
• University of Maine (Orono, ME, USA)
• University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley (Brownsville, TX, USA)
• San Francisco State University (San Francisco, CA, USA)

Physics (limited Astronomy)

• Central Michigan University (Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA)
• Washington State University (Pullman, WA, USA)
• University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (North Dartmouth, MA, USA)

Bridge to Ph.D. Programs

• Physics & Astronomy list mainted by GRADMAP
• Diversity Programs on AstroBetter
• American Physical Society Bridge Programs

Masters (and PhD) programs outside the US

Outside the US, you must complete a Masters degree before you can start a PhD. Below is a list of some universities with astronomy and astrophysics groups that offer MScs (and PhDs). At many Canadian universities, it's possible to fast-track to the PhD program after a successful first year in the MSc program, so that you don't receive an MSc and take only 5 years total for a PhD (instead of 2 years for an MSc and 4ish years for a PhD). However, anyone applying with a Bachelors degree must start with a Masters.

In most programs you will be required to pay your own tuition out of your teaching/research stipend or fellowship (though tuition is an order of magnitude lower than it is in the US), so check with current graduate students that you'll be able to live on your net income. Some universities have fees for international students that make this net income unliveable, so negotiate to have this international fee difference covered by the department or your supervisor's grants. The department will help you figure out which visa you need for the program if you aren't a citizen of that country; you will likely be on a student visa, which means you cannot have side-jobs in addition to teaching and research duties.

Canada, in English

• University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta)
• University of British Columbia (Vancouver, British Columbia) (may require Phys GRE of US applicants)
• University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta)
• University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
• McGill University (Montreal, Quebec) (may require Phys GRE of US applicants)
• McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario)
• Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario)
• University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
• St. Mary's University (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
• University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario) (may require Phys GRE of US applicants)
• University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia)
• Western University (London, Ontario)
• York University (Toronto, Ontario)

Canada, in French

• Universite Laval (Quebec City, Quebec)
• Universite de Montreal (Montreal, Quebec)

Europe

Netherlands

• University of Amsterdam (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
• University of Groningen (Groningen, the Netherlands)
• Leiden University (Leiden, the Netherlands)
• Radboud University Nijmegen (Nijmegen, the Netherlands)

Belgium

• KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)

Germany

In Germany, a Masters degree is the default degree obtained before starting a (3-year) PhD. Some universities offering a Masters program in astrophysics in English are:

• Ludwig Maximilians University (Munich, Germany)
• Eberhard Karls University (Tuebingen, Germany)
• University of Potsdam (Potsdam, Germany)
• Bonn University (Bonn, Germany)
• Technical University Munich (Munich, Germany)

For historical reasons, most universities will offer a Masters in physics with a focus on astrophysics - different name, same thing. Examples are:

• Friedrich Alexander University (Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany) -- get in touch with people from the Remeis observatory if interested
• Hamburg University (Hamburg, Germany)
• Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany) - excellent undergraduate and graduate research opportunities; Heidelberg University also offers an international graduate school (IMPRS, https://www.imprs-hd.mpg.de/ for PhD students), admission is typically with a MSc, but also admission with a BSc is possible for exceptional candidates. The IMPRS PhD program comes with a generous stipend (>1500 Euro/month) and tuition fees are very low (~300 Euro/ year).

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) has an overview of (most? all?) programs that you can click your way through to individual programs.