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2023 Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region

10 Ranked Colleges
707 Degrees Awarded
$17,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Industrial Engineering is the 87th most popular major in the country with 9,072 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, industrial engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,960 and had an average of $24,268 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 707 industrial engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $70,141 and $24,490 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer a degree in industrial engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality industrial engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the industrial engineering program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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The ie school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region ie students.

Top 10 Best Value Colleges for Industrial Engineering in the Plains States Region

1

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend North Dakota State University - Main Campus. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region list. Fargo, North Dakota is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s IE degrees to 32 students in 2020-2021.

North Dakota State University also made our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend North Dakota State University - Main Campus is $16,998 for Plains States Region IE students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Industrial Engineering at North Dakota State University

2

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region. This small school is located in Rapid City, South Dakota, and it awarded 56 ’s IE degrees in 2020-2021.

SD Mines also took the #7 spot in our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $19,919 for plains states region ie students per year to attend SD Mines.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Industrial Engineering at SD Mines

3

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region. Iowa State University is a large public school situated in Ames, Iowa. It awarded 149 ’s IE degrees in 2020-2021.

Iowa State also made our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State University is $16,002 for Plains States Region IE students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Industrial Engineering at Iowa State

4

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Wichita State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Wichita State University is a fairly large school located in Wichita, Kansas that handed out 127 ’s IE degrees in 2020-2021.

WSU also made our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #8. The yearly cost to attend WSU is $14,859 for plains states region ie students.

Read full report on Industrial Engineering at WSU

5
K -State crest
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Kansas State University landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in Manhattan, Kansas, and it awarded 60 ’s IE degrees in 2020-2021.

K -State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Kansas State University is $18,433 for Plains States Region IE students.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Industrial Engineering at Kansas State University

6

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well in the 2023 Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #6. UMN Twin Cities is a public institution located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school has a large population, and it awarded 116 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our plains states region ie students list, UMN Twin Cities has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UMN Twin Cities is $17,878 for Plains States Region IE students.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Industrial Engineering at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

7

With a ranking of #7, University of Minnesota - Duluth did quite well on the 2023 Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region list. This medium-sized school is located in Duluth, Minnesota, and it awarded 14 ’s IE degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMN Duluth, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UMN Duluth is $18,505 for Plains States Region IE students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full UMN Duluth Industrial Engineering Report

8

University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well in the 2023 Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #8. Mizzou is a large school located in Columbia, Missouri that handed out 29 ’s IE degrees in 2020-2021.

Mizzou did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Missouri - Columbia is $16,559 for plains states region ie students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Mizzou Industrial Engineering Report

9
Iowa crest
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

University of Iowa landed the #9 spot on the 2023 Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Iowa is a public institution located in Iowa City, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 71 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Iowa also made our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend University of Iowa is $19,401 for plains states region ie students.

With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Industrial Engineering at Iowa

10
UCM crest
University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, Missouri

University of Central Missouri came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value IE Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. University of Central Missouri is a fairly large school located in Warrensburg, Missouri that handed out 26 ’s IE degrees in 2020-2021.

UCM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best Industrial Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for UCM is $14,058 for plains states region ie students.

Read more about Industrial Engineering at University of Central Missouri

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Notes and References

References

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