2023 Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Education 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 Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 119 schools in the Plains States Region to see which 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.
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2023 Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region
Check out the education programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.
Top 15% Best Education Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Northeast Community College the best value school in the Plains States Region for education students. Northeast is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Norfolk.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Northeast are $5,010 a year. Education majors at Northeast take out an average of $11,500 in student loans while working on their egree.
Read full report on Education at Northeast Community College
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Jamestown. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the town of Jamestown, UJ is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
UJ undergraduate students pay an average of $23,498 in tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that education majors at UJ take out is $27,250.
Out of the 119 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the town of Orange City, NWC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NWC are $33,590 per year. After completing their degree, education graduates from NWC carry an average student debtload of $25,995.
In addition to its great value ranking, NWC is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Education Schools in the Plains States Region list.
Out of the 119 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Central Methodist University - College of Graduate & Extended Studies landed the # 4 spot on the list. CMU CGES is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Fayette.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at CMU CGES are $6,720 a year. After completing their degree, education graduates from CMU CGES carry an average student debtload of $19,793.
Full Education at Central Methodist University - College of Graduate & Extended Studies Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chadron State College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote town of Chadron, Chadron State College is a public college with a small student population.
Chadron State College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,206 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, education majors at Chadron State College accumulate an average of around $22,944 in student debt.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Minot State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. MSU is a small public school located in the remote town of Minot.
MSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,163 in tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that education majors at MSU take out is $28,094.
Wayne State College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the town of Wayne, WSC is a public school with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at WSC are $7,458 a year. The average amount in student loans that education majors at WSC take out is $23,504.
Morningside College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value education programs. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Morningside is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Morningside undergraduate students pay an average of $35,270 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, education majors at Morningside accumulate an average of around $27,500 in student debt.
Dickinson State University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the town of Dickinson, DSU is a public college with a small student population.
DSU undergraduate students pay an average of $9,942 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, education graduates from DSU carry an average student debtload of $31,000.
Valley City State University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. Valley City State University is a small public school located in the town of Valley City.
Valley City State University undergraduate students pay an average of $12,969 in tuition and fees each year. Education majors at Valley City State University take out an average of $25,803 in student loans while working on their egree.
Valley City State University also took the #4 spot in our Best Education Schools in the Plains States Region rankings.
Read full report on Education at Valley City State University
With a ranking of #11, Doane University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students. 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 undergraduate student at Doane Crete are $37,880 a year. After completing their degree, education graduates from Doane Crete carry an average student debtload of $27,000.
Southwest Minnesota State University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the town of Marshall, Southwest Minnesota State University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Southwest Minnesota State University are $9,482 per year. The average amount in student loans that education majors at Southwest Minnesota State University take out is $26,097.
Full Education at Southwest Minnesota State University Report
Mayville State University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote area of Mayville, Mayville State University is a public school with a small student population.
Mayville State University undergraduate students pay an average of $10,756 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, education majors at Mayville State University accumulate an average of around $29,883 in student debt.
William Woods University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for education students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the distant town of Fulton, William Woods is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at William Woods are $26,730 a year.
With a ranking of #15, Bemidji State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students. Bemidji State University is a small public school located in the town of Bemidji.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Bemidji State University are $9,806 per year. The average amount in student loans that education majors at Bemidji State University take out is $26,147.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Bemidji State University also did well on our Best Education Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Minnesota State University - Mankato landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value education programs. Minnesota State Mankato is a large public school located in the small city of Mankato.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Minnesota State Mankato are $18,200 a year. After completing their degree, education graduates from Minnesota State Mankato carry an average student debtload of $27,583.
Full Education at Minnesota State University - Mankato Report
Concordia University, Nebraska landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value education programs. Located in the town of Seward, Concordia University, Nebraska 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 Concordia University, Nebraska are $36,310 a year. Education majors at Concordia University, Nebraska take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | University of Sioux Falls | Sioux Falls, SD |
| 19 | Dakota State University | Madison, SD |
| 20 | Peru State College | Peru, NE |
| 21 | Metropolitan State University | Saint Paul, MN |
| 22 | Hamline University | Saint Paul, MN |
| 23 | Northern State University | Aberdeen, SD |
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 |
More Education Rankings in the Plains States Region
Majors Related to Education
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 |
Most Popular Majors Related 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 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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