2022 Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 21,561 people earned their degree in civil engineering, making the major the 45th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, civil engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $60,122 and had an average of $23,807 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 292 civil engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $61,500 and $21,392 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in civil engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent civil engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

The civil 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 Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Civil Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$10,054 Average Net Price

$46,410 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k list. Iowa State is a public institution located in Ames, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 210 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also took the #1 spot in our “Best Civil Engineering Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $10,054 for Iowa Civil Eng students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Iowa State.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Read more about Civil Engineering at Iowa State University

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$12,975 Average Net Price

$44,594 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. Iowa is a public institution located in Iowa City, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 77 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Civil Engineering Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend Iowa is $12,975 for iowa civil eng students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.5% 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 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of Iowa Civil Engineering Report

#3

Dordt University

Sioux Center, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$24,967 Average Net Price

$48,233 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Dordt University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Civil Eng Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Dordt University is a small school located in Sioux Center, Iowa that handed out 5 ’s civil eng degrees in 2019-2020.

Dordt not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Civil Engineering Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $24,967 for iowa civil eng students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Dordt.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Civil Engineering at Dordt

• Best Value Colleges for Civil Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Colleges for Civil Engineering (Income $0-$30k)

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 Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.

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