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Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

7 Colleges
$16,253 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$47,664 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education Graduate Certificate School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, general education was ranked #39 in the country. In fact 29,810 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 7 schools in the Plains States Region to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for education students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Best Plains States Region Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in General Education

Our analysis found Minnesota State University - Mankato to be the best value school for general education students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the Plains States Region . Located in the small city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Minnesota State Mankato also did well on our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Winona State University is a great value for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the town of Winona, Winona State is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Winona State graduate students pay an average of $12,836 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Winona State also did well on our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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#4

Lindenwood University

Saint Charles, MO

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lindenwood University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Saint Charles, Lindenwood University is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

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

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Missouri - Columbia. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Mizzou are $28,550 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Mizzou also did well on our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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With a ranking of #6, Iowa State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public college with a very large student population.

Iowa State graduate students pay an average of $26,948 in tuition and fees each year.

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#7

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN

Capella University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate general education programs. Capella University is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

Capella University graduate students pay an average of $14,784 in tuition and fees each year.

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Best General Education Colleges by State

Explore the best general education colleges for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Missouri 493
Minnesota 2,028
Kansas 373
Iowa 226
Nebraska 59
North Dakota 24
South Dakota 88

General Education is one of 14 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 7 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 KOKUYO.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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