2023 Best Value Law Schools in the Plains States Region
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Law School for You
Out of all the majors we analyze each year, law was ranked #28 in the country. In fact 36,216 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.
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.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Law Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 14 schools in the Plains States Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for law students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
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.
Top 10 Best Law Schools
Our analysis found Drake University to be the best value school for law students who want to pursue a degree in the Plains States Region . Located in the city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Drake undergraduate students pay an average of $45,912 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Drake also did well on our Best Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of South Dakota. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the town of Vermillion, USD is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
USD undergraduate students pay an average of $12,942 in tuition and fees each year.
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Out of the 14 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Nebraska - Lincoln landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Lincoln, UNL is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UNL are $26,720 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UNL also did well on our Best Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Out of the 14 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Creighton University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Creighton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Omaha.
Creighton undergraduate students pay an average of $44,524 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of North Dakota. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. UND is a large public school located in the city of Grand Forks.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UND are $15,037 a year.
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University of St Thomas Minnesota came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UST MN are $48,329 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UST MN also did well on our Best Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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With a ranking of #7, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students. Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UMN Twin Cities are $33,818 a year.
UMN Twin Cities also claimed a spot on our Best Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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University of Kansas came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Law Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the small city of Lawrence, KU is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at KU are $28,034 a year.
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Washburn University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Topeka, Washburn University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Washburn University are $19,876 a year.
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University of Iowa landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value law programs. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Iowa are $31,905 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Iowa also did well on our Best Law Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Request InformationBest Law Colleges by State
Explore the best law colleges for a specific state in the Plains States region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Missouri | 619 |
| Minnesota | 693 |
| Kansas | 198 |
| Iowa | 237 |
| Nebraska | 216 |
| North Dakota | 56 |
| South Dakota | 62 |
More Law Rankings in the Plains States Region
Majors Related to Law
One of 4 majors within the area of study, law has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Law
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Legal Support Services | 11,545 |
| Legal Research | 6,874 |
| Non-Professional General Legal Studies | 4,407 |
| Legal Professions (Other) | 2,013 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 14 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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