2023 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking.

Natural Sciences is the 345th most popular major in the country with 2,214 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Plains States region, there were 163 natural sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in natural sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent natural sciences programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the natural sciences 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 Natural Sciences Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” 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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Natural Sciences (Income $48-$75k) in the Plains States Region

1

Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas

#1 in overall quality

$16,868 Average Net Price

$45,255 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Kansas State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Manhattan, Kansas, this large public school handed out 84 degrees to qualified ’s natural sciences students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at K -State, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $16,868 for Plains States Region Natural Sciences students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Kansas State University.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Natural Sciences at K -State

2

Missouri State University - Springfield
Springfield, Missouri

#3 in overall quality

$15,950 Average Net Price

$40,472 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, Missouri State University - Springfield landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Springfield, Missouri, this large public school awarded 11 degrees to qualified ’s natural sciences students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Missouri State, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Missouri State University - Springfield is $15,950 for plains states region natural sciences students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.9% 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 Natural Sciences at Missouri State University - Springfield

3

College of Saint Benedict
Saint Joseph, Minnesota

#2 in overall quality

$19,835 Average Net Price

$40,995 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend College of Saint Benedict. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k. CSB is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Saint Joseph, Minnesota. It awarded 14 ’s natural sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

CSB also made our “Best Natural Sciences Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend College of Saint Benedict is $19,835 for Plains States Region Natural Sciences students whose families make $48-$75k.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Natural Sciences at College of Saint Benedict

• Best Value Colleges for Natural Sciences (Income $48-$75k)

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Agsftw.