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Best Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

111 Colleges
$36,000 Avg Salary
$25,925 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Education Bachelor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 327,871 education students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #4 most popular in the country.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 111 schools in the Plains States Region to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for education majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.

Top 15% Best Education Bachelor's Degree Schools

#1

Northwestern College

Orange City, IA

Our 2023 rankings named Northwestern College the best school in the Plains States Region for education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the town of Orange City, NWC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#2

Valley City State University

Valley City, ND

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Valley City State University is a great place for education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Valley City State University is a small public school located in the remote town of Valley City.

Read full report on Education at Valley City State University

Out of the 111 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Winona State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Winona.

Full Education at Winona State University Report

#4

St Olaf College

Northfield, MN

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend St Olaf College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. St. Olaf is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Northfield.

Full Education at St Olaf College Report

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Concordia College at Moorhead helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best education schools in the Plains States Region . Concordia College Moorhead is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of Moorhead.

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#6

Gustavus Adolphus College

Saint Peter, MN

Gustavus Adolphus College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the town of Saint Peter, Gustavus Adolphus is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Education at Gustavus Adolphus College

#7

Drake University

Des Moines, IA

Drake University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Education at Drake University

#8

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

With a ranking of #8, University of Northern Iowa did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large city of Lincoln, UNL is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Education at University of Nebraska - Lincoln

With a ranking of #10, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Education at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Report

#11

Dakota State University

Madison, SD

Dakota State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the town of Madison, Dakota State is a public school with a small student population.

Full Education at Dakota State University Report

Iowa State University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree education programs. Iowa State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Ames.

Read full report on Education at Iowa State University

#13

Augustana University

Sioux Falls, SD

Augustana University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Sioux Falls, Augustana Sioux Falls is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Education at Augustana University

#14

Martin Luther College

New Ulm, MN

With a ranking of #14, Martin Luther College did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the distant town of New Ulm, MLC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Education at Martin Luther College Report

University of St Thomas Minnesota came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Full Education at University of St Thomas Minnesota Report

#16

Wartburg College

Waverly, IA

Wartburg College ranked #16 on this year’s Best Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the distant town of Waverly, Wartburg is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Education at Wartburg College Report

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Education students in the Plains States Region that almost earned our Best Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region award.

Rank College Location
17 Kansas State University Manhattan, KS
18 University of Minnesota - Duluth Duluth, MN
19 North Dakota State University - Main Campus Fargo, ND
20 University of Jamestown Jamestown, ND
21 Northern State University Aberdeen, SD
22 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA

Best Education Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 4,776
Minnesota 9,682
Iowa 3,392
South Dakota 1,045
Missouri 7,906
Nebraska 4,167
North Dakota 1,291

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
General Education 29,810
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832
Student Counseling 13,858
Instructional Media Design 8,695
Teaching English or French 5,791
Other Education 4,858
Teaching Assistants 2,751
Educational Assessment 2,552
Multilingual Education 1,910
Education Philosophy 737
International Education 293

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Sciences 205,984
Psychology 195,678
Communication & Journalism 120,571
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 55,820
History 32,731

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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 Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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