Library & Information Science is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #38 most popular master's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
College Factual reviewed 4 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of library & information science. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 342 master's degrees in library & information science during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Library & Information Science School for Your Master's Degree
The library science master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality library science program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on library & information science students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of library & information science students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt library & information science students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized library & information science related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for library & information science students working on their master's degree.
The library science 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 the Best Library & Information Science Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Library & Information Science in the Plains States Region
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for library & information science students seeking a a master's degree.
Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in Library Science
Emporia State University is a great decision for students interested in a master's degree in library & information science. ESU is a moderately-sized public university located in the remote town of Emporia.
Students who graduate with their master's from the library science program state that they receive average early career earnings of $40,103.
University of Iowa is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in library & information science. Iowa is a very large public university located in the small city of Iowa City.
Those library & information science students who get their master's degree from University of Iowa make $2,607 more than the average library science grad.
University of Central Missouri is a good decision for students interested in a master's degree in library & information science. UCM is a fairly large public university located in the town of Warrensburg.
Students who graduate with their master's from the library science program state that they receive average early career earnings of $40,901.
St Catherine University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in library & information science. Located in the city of Saint Paul, St. Kate's is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the library science program state that they receive average early career income of $41,670.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
college factual
The library science master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality library science program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
