2023 Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Geoscience Engineering is the 304th most popular major in the country with 325 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, geoscience engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,772 and had an average of $25,238 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 177 geoscience engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,548 and $26,625 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in geoscience engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality geoscience 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 geoscience engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

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

Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Geoscience Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in the Plains States Region

1

Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, Missouri

#1 in overall quality

$9,820 Average Net Price

$63,979 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Missouri University of Science and Technology. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k list. Missouri University of Science and Technology is located in Rolla, Missouri and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 140 ’s geoscience engineering degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our plains states region geoscience engineering students whose families make $30-$48k list, Missouri University of Science and Technology has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $9,820 for Plains States Region Geoscience Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. 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 more about Geoscience Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology

2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#3 in overall quality

$8,609 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k. This large school is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it awarded 7 ’s geoscience engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

UMN Twin Cities also made our “Best Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is $8,609 for Plains States Region Geoscience Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Geoscience Engineering at UMN Twin Cities

3

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Rapid City, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$16,736 Average Net Price

$64,929 Average Early-Career Earnings

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 #3 for the Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is a small school located in Rapid City, South Dakota that handed out 25 ’s geoscience engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

SD Mines not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $16,736 for Plains States Region Geoscience Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend SD Mines.

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%.

Full South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Geoscience Engineering Report

• Best Value Colleges for Geoscience Engineering (Income $30-$48k)

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.