What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Physics
Physics is tracked across 199 U.S. postsecondary institutions in the College Scorecard field-of-study file, which links CIP code classifications from IPEDS to Treasury earnings records. This profile covers the doctoral credential level specifically, because the Department of Education reports program-level outcomes separately for associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral awards. The CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs) taxonomy lets analysts roll up specialties into broader families, which is why earnings medians across schools can be compared on a common basis.
Across all reporting institutions, the mean of school-level medians is $116,348, calculated from 16 schools with published earnings data. The earnings distribution stretches from $64,493 at the low end to $178,137 at the top, with a 25th-75th percentile band between $80,184 and $163,024 around a median of $123,527. The top-reporting institution in this program is University of California-Los Angeles at $178,137. These numbers reflect earnings measured roughly a year after completion, using Social Security Administration tax records linked to federal financial aid applicants.
Variation across schools matters more than a single national figure. Completers counts reported per school indicate how many graduates’ earnings feed the median, which means small programs produce more volatile numbers. Median debt at the program level, when paired with earnings, yields a debt-to-earnings ratio that is the College Scorecard’s standard affordability signal — ratios under 1.0 indicate earnings exceed cumulative debt. Use the school-by-school table to spot institutions where Physics graduates out-earn peers at comparable cost, and to surface gainful-employment patterns that only become visible at the CIP-code level.