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Best Online Physics Degrees (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Key takeaway: Physics is the study of matter, energy, motion, and fields, taught through calculus-based coursework and laboratory work. Two things are worth knowing before you shop for programs. First, a fully online physics bachelor’s is rare: the lecture and problem-solving half of the degree ports to online delivery well, but upper-division laboratory courses usually require scheduled in-person sessions, a home lab kit, or a remote-instrument arrangement, so most “online” physics degrees are hybrid. Second, the job title “physicist” generally requires a doctorate. Bachelor’s graduates are hired as engineers, software developers, data analysts, technicians, and secondary school teachers, and those are real outcomes rather than consolation prizes. There is no programmatic accreditor for a physics degree, so institutional accreditation is the check that matters. Compare accredited programs below.
The academic core is calculus-based mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and the mathematics that carries them. Around that core, programs layer computation, laboratory technique, and a senior research project. Accredited online and hybrid programs generally award the same degree titles as campus programs; browse the best accredited online colleges to compare schools that offer them. To find programs near you, see physics programs by state.
Schools Offering Physics Programs
These accredited schools offer online programs. Request information to compare programs, costs, and formats.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Physics graduates spread across research, engineering, software, data work, and teaching. The occupations below are the ones commonly associated with physics coursework, and they differ sharply in how much schooling they require. Median annual wages come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
Median annual wage for the highest-paying physics careers. Source: BLS OEWS. Chart: Best Online College.View the data behind this chart
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
-1.6%
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PhysicistsSOC 19-2012
$172,250Median annual pay
Median hourly$82.81
Mean annual$171,180
Employment (US)20,430
Pay range (25-75%)$111,720 - $222,760
Biochemists and BiophysicistsSOC 19-1021
$127,410Median annual pay
Median hourly$61.26
Mean annual$129,840
Employment (US)33,830
Pay range (25-75%)$95,000 - $163,460
Physics Teachers, PostsecondarySOC 25-1054
$100,310Median annual pay
Mean annual$111,460
Employment (US)13,090
Pay range (25-75%)$74,050 - $132,650
MathematiciansSOC 15-2021
$126,710Median annual pay
Median hourly$60.92
Mean annual$129,260
Employment (US)2,030
Pay range (25-75%)$88,570 - $157,020
Atmospheric and Space ScientistsSOC 19-2021
$99,070Median annual pay
Median hourly$47.63
Mean annual$106,110
Employment (US)10,000
Pay range (25-75%)$73,350 - $129,960
Engineers, All OtherSOC 17-2199
$122,930Median annual pay
Median hourly$59.10
Mean annual$125,330
Employment (US)154,070
Pay range (25-75%)$90,970 - $158,090
Software DevelopersSOC 15-1252
$135,980Median annual pay
Median hourly$65.38
Mean annual$148,100
Employment (US)1,687,890
Pay range (25-75%)$105,210 - $171,980
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical EducationSOC 25-2031
$72,040Median annual pay
Mean annual$76,320
Employment (US)1,065,210
Pay range (25-75%)$59,980 - $92,570
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Physicists had a median annual wage of $172,250. The 10th percentile was $82,110 and the 90th was $274,110 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). That is the highest median on this list, and it is also the occupation with the steepest entry requirement: the research jobs that carry the title are typically filled by doctorate holders, often after a postdoctoral appointment. Employment was 24,600 in 2024 and is projected to grow 4.0 percent through 2034, with about 1,700 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). A few thousand doctorates and 1,700 annual openings is a small, competitive market. Biochemists and biophysicists had a median annual wage of $127,410. The 10th percentile was $74,290 and the 90th was $201,110 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), and 5.8 percent projected growth with 2,900 annual openings (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034); independent research there is also a doctorate-level job.
The occupations most bachelor’s graduates actually enter look different. Engineers, all other, a category that absorbs many applied-physics graduates, had a median annual wage of $122,930 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS) with 9,300 annual openings (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Software developers had a median annual wage of $135,980 and are projected to grow 15.8 percent with 115,200 openings per year, by far the largest opening count associated with this degree. Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education, had a median annual wage of $72,040 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), with 66,200 annual openings despite a projected employment change of -1.6 percent (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034); physics teachers are among the harder positions for districts to fill. Individual outcomes vary by employer, geography, specialization, and experience.
Quick Answers
Can you get a physics degree entirely online?
Rarely, and you should verify it rather than assume it. Lectures, problem sets, computational work, and exams adapt well to online delivery. Laboratory courses are the constraint: schools solve them with scheduled campus lab intensives, proctored home lab kits, remotely operated instruments, or transferable lab credit from a nearby institution. Ask each program, in writing, which upper-division labs require your physical presence and where.
Do you need a PhD to be a physicist?
For the job title, generally yes. Research positions that carry the physicist title in national laboratories, universities, and industrial research groups are typically filled by doctorate holders. A bachelor’s in physics qualifies you for engineering, software, data, technician, and teaching roles, and it is a common route into a graduate program in engineering, computer science, or applied mathematics.
Is a physics degree a good major if I do not want a research career?
It can be, if you treat it as quantitative training rather than as a pre-doctoral track. Employers hire physics graduates for modeling, instrumentation, signal processing, and software work. The graduates who convert the degree fastest are the ones who add programming, an engineering minor, or an internship. See is an online physics degree worth it.
How much math does a physics degree require?
A full calculus sequence, differential equations, and linear algebra at minimum, with many programs adding complex analysis or mathematical methods for physicists. If the mathematics is the part you enjoy most, compare the mathematics program guide before committing.
Is there a programmatic accreditor for physics degrees?
No. Physics degrees carry no programmatic accreditation, so recognized institutional accreditation is the check that matters. Verify it through the U.S. Department of Education database. ABET accredits engineering programs, including engineering physics and applied physics degrees that are structured as engineering degrees, so that mark is worth looking for only if the program is an engineering degree.
What you’ll study
Physics curricula are unusually standardized, because the sequence is cumulative and each course depends on the one before it.
The first layer is the introductory calculus-based sequence, normally two or three terms covering mechanics, waves, electricity and magnetism, and an introduction to modern physics, each with a laboratory. Taken alongside it is the mathematics spine: differential and integral calculus, multivariable calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra. Students who arrive without a calculus background usually spend a full year on prerequisites before the physics sequence begins.
The second layer is the upper-division core. Classical mechanics revisits motion with Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods. Electricity and magnetism works through Maxwell’s equations. Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics connect microscopic states to bulk behavior. Quantum mechanics is usually two terms and is the course that decides how many students continue. Most programs add optics, solid state, or nuclear and particle physics as electives.
The third layer is method: laboratory technique, error analysis, electronics, and computation. Computational physics is now standard, typically in Python, and it is the single most transferable course in the degree. Many programs end with a senior research project or thesis, which is also the writing sample and the interview material.
Where online programs differ from campus programs is almost entirely in that third layer. Read how online physics degrees work for the specific lab arrangements before you enroll, because a program that cannot deliver upper-division labs is a program you will finish somewhere else.
Careers for physics graduates
The paths sort into a few recognizable shapes, and the credential each one wants is different.
Research physics is the path the degree names. It runs through a doctorate, often a postdoctoral appointment, and into national laboratories, universities, and corporate research. The pay is high and the door is narrow: 1,700 openings per year across the occupation (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Biophysics is a nearby doctorate-level research field with somewhat faster projected growth.
Engineering and applied technical work absorbs the largest share of bachelor’s graduates who stay in the physical sciences. Semiconductor process work, optics and photonics, instrumentation, defense, and medical devices all hire physics graduates, often with the word engineer in the title. If that is the destination, look at the engineering program guide or the electrical engineering guide and consider whether an ABET-accredited engineering degree serves you better.
Software, data, and quantitative analysis is the other large destination, and it is the one with the most annual openings. Physics graduates who can program compete well for modeling, simulation, and analysis roles. The computer science program guide covers that route directly.
Teaching is a genuine and under-supplied path. High school physics positions go unfilled in many districts. Teaching in a public school requires a state teaching license, which means an approved educator preparation program and state exams in addition to the physics degree. See the education program guide. College teaching is a separate matter: physics teachers, postsecondary, had a median annual wage of $100,310 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), and those positions generally require a doctorate.
Accreditation – confirm recognized institutional accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education database. There is no programmatic accreditor for physics, so this is the check that matters.
The lab question first – before anything else, get a written answer on how each required laboratory is delivered, whether any of them require travel, and how often those sessions run.
Degree title – a BS in Physics, a BA in Physics, an applied or engineering physics degree, and a general science degree with a physics concentration are different products. Compare the bachelor’s page for what each one covers.
Course rotation – upper-division physics courses often run once a year online. Map the full sequence against your intended graduation date before you enroll.
Mathematics support – confirm that the calculus and differential equations sequence is available in the same online format, and on a compatible schedule.
Computation – look for a required programming or computational physics course. It is the course that most reliably converts into a first job.
Research and capstone – ask how online students complete the senior project, and whether remote or local placements are supported.
Cost – compare total program cost including laboratory fees and any travel for residencies, not the advertised per-credit rate. See how to evaluate affordability.
Physics or a related field? Choose physics for fundamental theory, laboratory work, and a route toward research or graduate study. Choose engineering if you want to design and build systems under an ABET-accredited curriculum. Choose computer science if software is the actual goal. Choose mathematics if proofs and structure interest you more than experiments. Choose chemistry if matter at the molecular scale is the draw, or education if the classroom is.
