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Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

5 Colleges
$28,156 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$70,619 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physical Sciences Doctor's Degree School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, physical sciences was ranked #19 in the country. In fact 50,306 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.

The Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor'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 5 schools in the Plains States Region to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for physical sciences 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.

2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for physical sciences majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Best Plains States Region Schools for Affordable Quality for a Doctorate in Physical Sciences

Our 2023 rankings named Iowa State University the best value school in the Plains States Region for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Iowa State is a very large public school located in the small city of Ames.

Iowa State graduate students pay an average of $26,948 in tuition and fees each year.

Iowa State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Full Physical Sciences at Iowa State University Report

Out of the 5 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UMN Twin Cities graduate students pay an average of $29,262 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physical Sciences at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Missouri - Columbia helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value physical sciences schools in the Plains States Region . Mizzou is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mizzou are $28,550 per year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Missouri - Columbia

#4

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Iowa is a great value for physical sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Iowa are $31,012 a year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Iowa

#5

University of Kansas

Lawrence, KS

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Kansas. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Lawrence, KU is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at KU are $25,007 a year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Kansas

Best Physical Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best physical sciences schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 325
Minnesota 891
Iowa 427
South Dakota 144
Missouri 765
Nebraska 229
North Dakota 85

Physical Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 21,239
Physics 13,674
Geological & Earth Sciences 7,821
General Physical Sciences 3,823
Astronomy & Astrophysics 1,375
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 1,140
Materials Sciences 658
Other Physical Science 538
Physics and Astronomy 38

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 254,454
Engineering 198,468
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 177,778
Engineering Technologies 85,188
Mathematics & Statistics 52,396

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 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 NASA.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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