What can you do with a major in physics?
Physics major careers and jobs
A major in physics opens doors. Because our physics majors develop highly organized ways of thinking, they tend to be quite successful both inside and outside the fields of traditional physics. Some physicists become astronomers, entering into a field in which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects employment to grow 16 percent by 2018. Other physicists put their training to use in the medical world by becoming medical or health physicists — in fact, Marquette has teamed up with the Medical College of Wisconsin to offer a special program for physics majors interested in going into medicine. Many of our alumni also work in patent law, military service, forensic science, software developing and consulting. The bureau reports that the median annual wage for physicists is $106,370 — more than $70,000 more per year than the average American worker.
Jobs for Physics majors
What can you do with a major in physics? About two-thirds of our students go directly on to graduate school or professional study. They study at many universities including the University of Wisconsin Medical College, the University of Iowa and Michigan State University. In addition to various universities, recent employers of Marquette physics majors include:
- Ford Motor Co.
- Kimberly-Clark Corp.
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Motorola
- NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Proctor and Gamble
- Rockwell International
- Scripts Institute of Oceanography
- Trace Laboratories
- United Parcel Service
- U.S. Defense Department
Additional resources on careers in physics.
Visit the department that offers the major in physics.
