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Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

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2023 Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

17 Colleges
$10,804 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,367 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Master's Degree School for You

Education is one of the most popular subjects to study in Iowa. With 3,392 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 4th out of all the majors we track in the state.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in Iowa to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 17 schools in Iowa to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for education students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa

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

Top 10 Best Education Master's Degree Schools

#1

Waldorf University

Forest City, IA

Our analysis found Waldorf University to be the best value school for education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Iowa. Waldorf is a small private for-profit school located in the town of Forest City.

Waldorf graduate students pay an average of $4,835 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at Waldorf University

#2

Northwestern College

Orange City, IA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Northwestern College is a great value for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the distant town of Orange City, NWC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at NWC are $6,360 a year.

NWC also took the #2 spot in our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa rankings.

Read full report on Education at Northwestern College

#3

Simpson College

Indianola, IA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Simpson College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the fringe town of Indianola, Simpson College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Simpson College are $6,606 per year.

Simpson College also took the #3 spot in our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa rankings.

Read full report on Education at Simpson College

#4

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Morningside College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Morningside is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Morningside are $6,516 a year.

Full Education at Morningside College Report

#5

Buena Vista University

Storm Lake, IA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Buena Vista University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the town of Storm Lake, BVU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at BVU are $9,936 a year.

Read full report on Education at Buena Vista University

#6

Drake University

Des Moines, IA

Drake University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Drake are $11,988 a year.

Drake also took the #1 spot in our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa rankings.

Read full report on Education at Drake University

#7

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

University of Northern Iowa ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

UNI graduate students pay an average of $10,569 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UNI not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

Read More…

#8

Dordt University

Sioux Center, IA

Dordt University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. Located in the remote town of Sioux Center, Dordt is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Dordt are $9,850 per year.

Full Education at Dordt University Report

#9

Grand View University

Des Moines, IA

Grand View 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. Grand View University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Des Moines.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Grand View University are $9,440 per year.

Full Education at Grand View University Report

#10

Loras College

Dubuque, IA

Loras College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the small city of Dubuque, Loras is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Loras are $12,990 a year.

Read More…

Best Value Education Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Education Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 4,776
Minnesota 9,682
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

Majors Similar to Education

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 17 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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