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Best Value Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

29 Colleges
$17,710 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$47,415 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Journalism Master's Degree School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, communication and journalism was ranked #11 in the country. In fact 120,571 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 29 schools in the Plains States Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for communication and journalism students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Check out the communication and journalism master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools

#1

Drake University

Des Moines, IA

Our 2023 rankings named Drake University the best value school in the Plains States Region for communication and journalism students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Drake are $11,988 per year.

Drake did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Drake University

#2

University of Dubuque

Dubuque, IA

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Dubuque helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value communication and journalism schools in the Plains States Region . UD is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Dubuque.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UD are $7,940 per year.

Full Communication & Journalism at University of Dubuque Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at Concordia University, Saint Paul helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value communication and journalism schools in the Plains States Region . Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Concordia University, Saint Paul is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Concordia University, Saint Paul are $8,550 per year.

Full Communication & Journalism at Concordia University, Saint Paul Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at North Dakota State University - Main Campus helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value communication and journalism schools in the Plains States Region . Located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public college with a large student population.

North Dakota State University graduate students pay an average of $12,028 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Minnesota State University - Mankato is a great value for communication and journalism students working on their master’s degree. Minnesota State Mankato is a large public school located in the city of Mankato.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,308 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Minnesota State University - Mankato

#6

Bellevue University

Bellevue, NE

Bellevue University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Bellevue, Bellevue University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Bellevue University are $11,730 per year.

Read More…

#7

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD

University of South Dakota landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree communication and journalism programs. Located in the distant town of Vermillion, USD is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at USD are $12,768 per year.

Full Communication & Journalism at University of South Dakota Report

South Dakota State University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. South Dakota State is a large public school located in the remote town of Brookings.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at South Dakota State are $16,917 per year.

South Dakota State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Full Communication & Journalism at South Dakota State University Report

#9

Saint Cloud State University

Saint Cloud, MN

Saint Cloud State University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. St. Cloud State University is a large public school located in the city of Saint Cloud.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at St. Cloud State University are $13,412 per year.

Read More…

#10

Lindenwood University

Saint Charles, MO

Lindenwood University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for communication and journalism students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Lindenwood University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Saint Charles.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lindenwood University are $9,784 per year.

Read More…

Best Communication & Journalism Colleges by State

Explore the best communication and journalism schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 1,015
Minnesota 1,434
Iowa 1,231
South Dakota 203
Missouri 1,975
Nebraska 719
North Dakota 171

Communication & Journalism Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 66,787
Public Relations & Advertising 21,099
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 17,669
Journalism 13,552
Communication & Journalism (Other) 1,128
Publishing 336

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 327,871
Social Sciences 205,984
Psychology 195,678
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 55,820
History 32,731

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Josh Hallett.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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