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Best Value General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

8 Colleges
$25,573 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$68,243 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Engineering School for You

General Engineering is the #80 most popular major in the country with 11,796 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 8 schools in the Plains States Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for engineering 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 General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region

Check out the engineering programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best Plains States Region Schools for Affordable Quality in General Engineering

Our analysis found University of Nebraska - Lincoln to be the best value school for general engineering students who want to pursue a degree in the Plains States Region . Located in the city of Lincoln, UNL is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UNL are $26,720 a year.

UNL also claimed a spot on our Best General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on General Engineering at University of Nebraska - Lincoln

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means South Dakota State University is a great value for general engineering students. South Dakota State is a fairly large public school located in the town of Brookings.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at South Dakota State are $12,809 per year.

South Dakota State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read More…

$16,530 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region list. SD Mines is a small public school located in the city of Rapid City.

SD Mines undergraduate students pay an average of $16,530 in tuition and fees each year.

Full General Engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Report

Out of the 8 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Minnesota State University - Mankato landed the # 4 spot on the list. Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mankato.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $18,200 per year. On average, engineering graduates from Minnesota State Mankato take out $17,850 in student loans while working on their degree.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Missouri - Columbia. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region list. Mizzou is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.

Mizzou undergraduate students pay an average of $30,450 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, engineering graduates from Mizzou carry an average student debtload of $23,250.

Mizzou also claimed a spot on our Best General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on General Engineering at University of Missouri - Columbia

#6

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

University of Iowa did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for general engineering students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Iowa are $31,905 per year.

Iowa also claimed a spot on our Best General Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on General Engineering at University of Iowa

University of Minnesota - Duluth did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for general engineering students. It came in at #7 on the list. UMN Duluth is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Duluth.

UMN Duluth undergraduate students pay an average of $19,148 in tuition and fees each year.

Full General Engineering at University of Minnesota - Duluth Report

#8

Saint Louis University

Saint Louis, MO
$48,824 Average Tuition & Fees

Saint Louis University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for general engineering students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SLU are $48,824 a year.

Read More…

Best General Engineering Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Missouri 160
Minnesota 183
Kansas 36
Iowa 31
Nebraska 71
North Dakota 6
South Dakota 17

General Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 8 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 Rémi Kaupp.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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