2024 Best Library & Information Science Schools in the Plains States Region
4Colleges in the Plains States Region
365Library Science Degrees Awarded
$41,760Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in library & information science, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #121 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 4 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for library & information science students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 365 degrees in library & information science to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Library & Information Science School
The library science program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Library & Information Science rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for library & information science schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Library & Information Science Degree Level
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Library & Information Science Schools in the Plains States Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
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 when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Library & Information Science in the Plains States Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the library science degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Plains States Region Schools in Library Science
Emporia State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in library & information science. Located in the remote town of Emporia, ESU is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 8th out of 47 colleges for overall quality in the state of Kansas.
There were roughly 165 library & information science students who graduated with this degree at ESU in the most recent data year. After graduating, library science degree recipients usually make an average of $40,103 in their early careers.
University of Iowa is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in library & information science. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #84 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.
There were roughly 33 library & information science students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the library & information science degree program at University of Iowa get $2,607 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
It is difficult to beat University of Central Missouri if you wish to pursue a degree in library & information science. Located in the town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 21st out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were about 25 library & information science students who graduated with this degree at UCM in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the library science program make about $40,901 in the first couple years of working.
St Catherine University is a good option for students interested in a degree in library & information science. St. Kate's is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Saint Paul. A Best Colleges rank of #395 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means St. Kate's is a great university overall.
There were approximately 33 library & information science students who graduated with this degree at St. Kate's in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the library science program earn around $41,670 for their early career.
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).