2022 Best Value Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 418 people earned their degree in geological and geophysical engineering, making the major the 643rd most popular in the United States.

Across the Plains States region, there were 197 geological and geophysical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 88 geological and geophysical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $53,438 and $39,783 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in geological and geophysical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality geological and geophysical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the geological and geophysical engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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 Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region.

Top 3 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Geophysical Engineering in the Plains States Region

#1

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Rapid City, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$19,250 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. Rapid City, South Dakota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s geological and geophysical engineering degrees to 6 students in 2019-2020.

SD Mines also took the #2 spot in our “Best Geological & Geophysical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology are $19,250.

Read full report on Geological & Geophysical Engineering at SD Mines

#2

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, North Dakota

#3 in overall quality

$18,326 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of North Dakota. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region. Grand Forks, North Dakota is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s geological and geophysical engineering degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UND, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Geological & Geophysical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of North Dakota are $18,326, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Geological & Geophysical Engineering at UND

#3

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Rolla, Missouri

#1 in overall quality

$30,943 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Missouri University of Science and Technology. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Geological & Geophysical Engineering Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region. Missouri University of Science and Technology is a medium-sized public school situated in Rolla, Missouri. It awarded 79 masters’s geological and geophysical engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Missouri University of Science and Technology, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Geological & Geophysical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Missouri University of Science and Technology are $30,943, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Geological & Geophysical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Geophysical Engineering

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.

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