Colorado Technical University

How long will it take for me to earn a Doctoral Degree for Astronomy/Physics?

i want to become an Astronomer! Not a professor at some college or university teaching astronomy, i want to study astronomy. What i want to know is how long will it take to get a Doctoral Degree in order to become an Astronomer? thanks :)

Public Comments

1. Astronomers work for colleges and universities, national labs and observatories, and NASA. Most astronomers are employed by colleges, to do research and teach. Most astronomers wanted that job, so it's very hard to get - there aren't many jobs in astronomy, even if you do have a PhD, which you need. Plan on spending 8-12 years in college. For your bachelors (4 years) major in physics and take classes in astronomy, math, computer science, composition, and public speaking. Spend your summers doing research at your school or others (look up REU programs) to make sure you really like doing research and to get experience for grad school. Then you'd apply for a masters/PhD program somewhere else. The masters is another 2-3 years depending on whether it's all coursework, or thesis, or if you need a qualifying exam. The PhD is another 2-6 years after the masters, depending on your school, the requirements, your motivation, your adviser, and the project you choose.