The Physics program at Tarleton State Univeristy is focused exclusively on providing the best undergraduate education possible rather than training graduate students like our sister school at Texas A&M. Over 50% of all students who earn PhD's in Physics obtaine their BS degree at an undergraduate only institution like Tarleton. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson a Civil War General and former Physics Professor at VMI wrote in his diary his philosophy of life, "You can be whatever you desire to be." Our students and faculty work hard together to fullfill Jackson's statement. We actively recruit the best possible students, place them in a challenging educational environment with strong faculty mentoring and superior educational facilities so our students achieve their academic goals. Furthermore, our competative academic scholarship program and low cost makes our physics program one of the most affordable in the US.
Tarleton houses one of the best equipped undergraduate physics programs in the country. Like students at exclusive private undergraduate institutions, Tarleton students over the years have done summer undergraduate research at a variety of national laboratories including NASA, Naval Surface Warfare Center, and the US Army Research as well as NSF funded REU and MURF programs including CAMD, and CAL-TECH. However, unlike students at most other undergraduate institutions, Tarleton students also have the opportunity to enhance their education by doing research during the academic year due to our state-of-the-art facilities. These facilities are unique among undergrdaute institutions and provide not only research opportunities but also enhanced classroom activities for our students. Some of the unique undergraduate equipment at Tarleton include:
1) 32" Telescope (Largest at any US Undergraduate Institution)
2) 1.0 MV Tandem Particle Accelerator
3) JEOL Scanning Electron Microscope (35 Angstrom Resolution)
We also offer unique physics tracks including a Medical Physics track, Astronomy track, and a Secondary Math/Physics Teaching Certification track.