2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban & Regional Planning in the Plains States Region

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Urban Planning Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Urban & Regional Planning is the 170th most popular major in the country with 2,548 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, urban and regional planning graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $48,040 and had an average of $39,156 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 156 urban and regional planning graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,900 and $28,410 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 52 urban and regional planning graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,786 and $25,576 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Urban Planning Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in urban and regional planning. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great urban and regional planning programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the urban and regional planning program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The urban planning 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 Urban Planning Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region”.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Urban Planning Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region bachelor’s degree urban planning students.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban & Regional Planning in the Plains States Region

#1

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$19,252 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Dakota State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Urban Planning Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. South Dakota State University is located in Brookings, South Dakota and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s urban planning degrees to qualified students.

South Dakota State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Urban & Regional Planning Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for South Dakota State University is $19,252 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Urban Planning students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.8% 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 more about Urban & Regional Planning at South Dakota State

#2

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$15,496 Average Net Price

$40,821 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Urban Planning Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #2 spot on the list. Iowa State University is a public institution located in Ames, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 26 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Urban & Regional Planning Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State University is $15,496 for plains states region bachelor’s degree urban planning students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Iowa State University Urban & Regional Planning Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban & Regional Planning

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Arcaddmarketing.

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