Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Chemical Engineering

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Chemical Engineering in the Plains States Region

13 Ranked Colleges
839 Degrees Awarded
$18,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor's in the Plains States Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 13,610 people earned their degree in chemical engineering, making the major the 66th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, chemical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $62,963 and had an average of $22,564 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 988 chemical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $63,090 and $22,852 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 839 chemical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,786 and $25,576 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking, we looked at 13 colleges that offer a degree in chemical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality chemical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the chemical engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The chem eng 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 Chem Eng 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region.

Top 13 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Chemical Engineering in the Plains States Region

#1

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, North Dakota

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of North Dakota. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. Located in Grand Forks, North Dakota, this fairly large public school handed out 39 degrees to qualified bachelors’s chem eng students in 2019-2020.

UND not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of North Dakota is $15,738 for plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at UND

Out of the 13 schools in the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology landed the #2 spot on the list. SD Mines is located in Rapid City, South Dakota and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 43 bachelors’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.

SD Mines also made our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #12. It costs about $19,815 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Chem Eng students per year to attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

The low student loan default rate of 4.8% 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%.

Full SD Mines Chemical Engineering Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Duluth. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Duluth, Minnesota is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s chem eng degrees to 64 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMN Duluth, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UMN Duluth is $17,067 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Chem Eng students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.1% 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 Chemical Engineering at UMN Duluth

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. This large school is located in Ames, Iowa, and it awarded 128 bachelors’s chem eng degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also made our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State is $15,496 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Chem Eng students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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 Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University

#5

Kansas State University

Manhattan, Kansas

Out of the 13 schools in the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Kansas State University landed the #5 spot on the list. Manhattan, Kansas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s chem eng degrees to 70 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students list, K -State has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $18,285 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Chem Eng students per year to attend Kansas State University.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at K -State

University of Nebraska - Lincoln did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #6. Lincoln, Nebraska is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s chem eng degrees to 38 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students list, UNL has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $17,208 for plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students per year to attend UNL.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

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

#7

University of Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

With a ranking of #7, University of Kansas did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. KU is located in Lawrence, Kansas and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 90 bachelors’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students list, KU has also earned the #11 rank in our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $18,918 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Chem Eng students per year to attend University of Kansas.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Full University of Kansas Chemical Engineering Report

Missouri University of Science and Technology came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in Rolla, Missouri, this medium-sized public school awarded 101 degrees to qualified bachelors’s chem eng students in 2019-2020.

Missouri University of Science and Technology did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $14,262 for plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students per year to attend Missouri University of Science and Technology.

The low student loan default rate of 3.1% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology

University of Missouri - Columbia landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in Columbia, Missouri, this large public school awarded 51 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s chem eng students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Mizzou, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Mizzou is $16,001 for plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

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

#10

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, Minnesota

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #10. UMN Twin Cities is a public institution located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school has a large population, and it awarded 115 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMN Twin Cities, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UMN Twin Cities is $17,740 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Chem Eng students.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full UMN Twin Cities Chemical Engineering Report

#11

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

University of Iowa did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #11. University of Iowa is located in Iowa City, Iowa and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 49 bachelors’s chem eng degrees to qualified students.

Iowa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa is $19,145 for plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at University of Iowa

#12

Dordt University

Sioux Center, Iowa
#13 in overall quality

With a ranking of #12, Dordt University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 1 degrees to qualified bachelors’s chem eng students in 2019-2020.

Dordt did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #13 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Dordt University is $25,102 for plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students.

The low student loan default rate of 1.8% 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 full report on Chemical Engineering at Dordt

#13

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, Missouri

Washington University in St Louis did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Chem Eng Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #13. WUSTL is a fairly large school located in Saint Louis, Missouri that handed out 42 bachelors’s chem eng degrees in 2019-2020.

WUSTL not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Washington University in St Louis is $26,869 for plains states region bachelor’s degree chem eng students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.4% 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%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at WUSTL

Switch to a Similar Major

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

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 Mikulova.

Featured Engineering Schools

Find Schools Near You