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Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

114 Colleges
$7,946 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,367 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Master'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.

The Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 114 schools in the Plains States Region to see which master's 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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

Top 15% Best Education Master's Degree Schools

#1

University of Jamestown

Jamestown, ND

Our analysis found University of Jamestown to be the best value school for education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Plains States Region . Located in the remote town of Jamestown, UJ is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UJ are $4,106 a year.

Full Education at University of Jamestown Report

#2

Martin Luther College

New Ulm, MN

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Martin Luther College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the distant town of New Ulm, MLC is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at MLC are $5,400 per year.

Read More…

#3

Waldorf University

Forest City, IA

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Waldorf University is a great value for education students working on their master’s degree. Waldorf is a small private for-profit school located in the town of Forest City.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Waldorf are $4,835 per year.

Full Education at Waldorf University Report

#4

Northwestern College

Orange City, IA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the distant town of Orange City, NWC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NWC are $6,360 per year.

NWC did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Education at Northwestern College

#5

William Jewell College

Liberty, MO

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means William Jewell College is a great value for education students working on their master’s degree. William Jewell is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Liberty.

William Jewell graduate students pay an average of $4,800 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Education at William Jewell College Report

#6

Simpson College

Indianola, IA

Simpson College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. Located in the town of Indianola, Simpson College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Simpson College graduate students pay an average of $6,606 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#7

Dickinson State University

Dickinson, ND

Dickinson State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote town of Dickinson, DSU is a public school with a small student population.

DSU graduate students pay an average of $6,576 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at Dickinson State University

#8

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA

Morningside College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Morningside is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Morningside graduate students pay an average of $6,516 in tuition and fees each year.

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Mayville State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the remote area of Mayville, Mayville State University is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mayville State University are $7,465 per year.

Read full report on Education at Mayville State University

#10

University of Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls, SD

University of Sioux Falls did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Sioux Falls, University of Sioux Falls is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

University of Sioux Falls graduate students pay an average of $7,110 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Education at University of Sioux Falls Report

#11

Valley City State University

Valley City, ND

With a ranking of #11, Valley City State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Valley City State University is a small public school located in the town of Valley City.

Valley City State University graduate students pay an average of $7,723 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at Valley City State University

#12

Newman University

Wichita, KS

Newman University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the city of Wichita, Newman University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Newman University are $8,484 a year.

Full Education at Newman University Report

Nebraska Wesleyan University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. NWU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Lincoln.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NWU are $7,580 per year.

Read More…

#14

Benedictine College

Atchison, KS

With a ranking of #14, Benedictine College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of Atchison, Benedictine College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Benedictine College are $6,540 a year.

Read full report on Education at Benedictine College

#15

Doane University

Crete, NE

With a ranking of #15, Doane University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Doane Crete is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Crete.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Doane Crete are $8,586 a year.

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Concordia College at Moorhead came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Concordia College Moorhead is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of Moorhead.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Concordia College Moorhead are $10,620 a year.

Full Education at Concordia College at Moorhead Report

#17

Bellevue University

Bellevue, NE

Bellevue University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the suburb of Bellevue, Bellevue University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Bellevue University are $11,730 a year.

Read More…

Honorable Mentions

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

Rank College Location
18 Concordia University, Nebraska Seward, NE
18 Southwest Baptist University Bolivar, MO
20 Wayne State College Wayne, NE
21 Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO
22 Buena Vista University Storm Lake, IA

Best Education Colleges by State

Explore the best education schools 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.

  • 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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