2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s 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. College Factual has developed its “Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2019-2020, 133,583 general studies students received their degree, making the major the 5th most popular in the country.
Across the Plains States region, there were 3,869 general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 1,582 general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,786 and $25,576 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking analyzed 18 colleges that offered a degree in general studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general studies 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 general studies 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.
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One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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 General Studies 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 general studies students.
Top 18 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Studies in the Plains States Region
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Columbia College is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Columbia, Missouri. It awarded 377 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
Columbia College Missouri also took the #1 spot in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $26,730 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend Columbia College Missouri.
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 General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. Located in Grand Forks, North Dakota, this fairly large public school awarded 110 degrees to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students list, UND has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of North Dakota is $15,738 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies 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%.
Out of the 18 schools in the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of South Dakota landed the #3 spot on the list. USD is a medium-sized school located in Vermillion, South Dakota that handed out 45 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
USD also made our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #7. It costs about $18,555 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend USD.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Studies at University of South Dakota
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Dakota State University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Brookings, South Dakota is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s general studies degrees to 30 students in 2019-2020.
South Dakota State also made our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #8. The yearly cost to attend South Dakota State is $19,252 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 3.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Studies at South Dakota State University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Minot State University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. Located in Minot, North Dakota, this small public school awarded 26 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
MSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #16 on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Minot State University is $11,898 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students.
With a ranking of #6, Southeast Missouri State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Cape Girardeau, Missouri is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s general studies degrees to 172 students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students list, Southeast Missouri State University has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $12,774 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend Southeast Missouri State University.
Read more about General Studies at Southeast Missouri State University
With a ranking of #7, University of Nebraska at Omaha did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. This fairly large school is located in Omaha, Nebraska, and it awarded 318 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students list, UNOMAHA has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Nebraska at Omaha is $14,040 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
University of Nebraska at Kearney ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. This medium-sized school is located in Kearney, Nebraska, and it awarded 41 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UNK, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Nebraska at Kearney is $16,017 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Studies at University of Nebraska at Kearney
Mayville State University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in Mayville, North Dakota, this small public school awarded 15 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students list, Mayville State University has also earned the #17 rank in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $12,378 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend Mayville State University.
Read more about General Studies at Mayville State University
University of Mary ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Bismarck, North Dakota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s general studies degrees to 23 students in 2019-2020.
UMary did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #14 on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Mary is $17,410 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
The low student loan default rate of 4.7% 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%.
College of Saint Mary did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #11. College of Saint Mary is a private not-for-profit institution located in Omaha, Nebraska. The school has a small population, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students list, Saint Mary has also earned the #15 rank in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $14,325 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend College of Saint Mary.
The student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
With a ranking of #12, Wichita State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. WSU is a public institution located in Wichita, Kansas. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 89 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
WSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #11 on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $14,382 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend Wichita State University.
Emporia State University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. Emporia, Kansas is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s general studies degrees to 29 students in 2019-2020.
ESU also made our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #13. The yearly cost to attend ESU is $14,822 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
University of Missouri - Columbia landed the #14 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. University of Missouri - Columbia is located in Columbia, Missouri and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 100 bachelors’s general studies degrees to qualified students.
In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students list, Mizzou has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $16,001 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend University of Missouri - Columbia.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 3.6% 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%.
Fontbonne University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Saint Louis, Missouri is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s general studies degrees to 15 students in 2019-2020.
Fontbonne University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $15,961 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend Fontbonne University.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
With a ranking of #16, Grand View University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Located in Des Moines, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 1 degrees to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
Grand View University also made our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #12. The estimated yearly cost for Grand View University is $19,826 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
Saint Louis University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in Saint Louis, Missouri, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 16 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at SLU, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SLU is $28,188 for plains states region bachelor’s degree general studies 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read full report on General Studies at Saint Louis University
Drury University - College of Continuing Professional Studies landed the #18 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. Springfield, Missouri is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s general studies degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.
Drury University - CCPS did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #18 on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $13,233 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend Drury University - CCPS.
Read full report on General Studies at Drury University - CCPS
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for General Studies in the Plains States Region
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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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