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Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

13 Colleges
$12,981 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$22,224 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Associate 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 13 schools in the Plains States Region to see which associate degree 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.

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 Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for education majors pursuing a associate degree.

Top 10 Best Education Associate Degree Schools

Our analysis found Northeast Community College to be the best value school for education students who want to pursue a associate degree in the Plains States Region . Northeast is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Norfolk.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northeast are $5,010 per year.

Full Education at Northeast Community College Report

Out of the 13 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Alexandria Technical & Community College landed the # 2 spot on the list. ATCC is a small public school located in the remote town of Alexandria.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at ATCC are $5,910 a year.

ATCC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Full Education at Alexandria Technical & Community College Report

#3

Three Rivers College

Poplar Bluff, MO

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Three Rivers College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Three Rivers College is a small public school located in the town of Poplar Bluff.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Three Rivers College are $6,510 a year.

Full Education at Three Rivers College Report

Out of the 13 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, St Cloud Technical and Community College landed the # 4 spot on the list. St Cloud Technical and Community College is a small public school located in the small city of Saint Cloud.

St Cloud Technical and Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,874 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, St Cloud Technical and Community College also did well on our Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Education at St Cloud Technical and Community College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rasmussen University - North Dakota. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Rasmussen University - North Dakota is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the midsize city of Fargo.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Rasmussen University - North Dakota are $11,847 a year.

Full Education at Rasmussen University - North Dakota Report

Rasmussen University - Minnesota landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree education programs. Located in the city of St. Cloud, Rasmussen University - Minnesota is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Rasmussen University - Minnesota are $13,558 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Rasmussen University - Minnesota also did well on our Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Education at Rasmussen University - Minnesota Report

Rasmussen University - Kansas ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the rural area of Topeka, Rasmussen University - Kansas is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Rasmussen University - Kansas are $13,639 per year.

Read More…

#8

Butler Community College

El Dorado, KS

Butler Community College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree education programs. Butler CC is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of El Dorado.

Butler CC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,976 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Education at Butler Community College Report

Drury University - College of Continuing Professional Studies ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the midsize city of Springfield, Drury University - CCPS is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Drury University - CCPS undergraduate students pay an average of $7,924 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#10

College of Saint Mary

Omaha, NE

College of Saint Mary came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the city of Omaha, Saint Mary is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Saint Mary are $21,800 a year.

Read More…

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 13 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 Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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