2023 Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $30-$48k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Natural Sciences is the 208th most popular major in the country with 2,214 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, natural sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $25,745 and had an average of $18,648 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Rocky Mountains region, there were 52 natural sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for rocky mountains region natural sciences students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Natural Sciences (Income $30-$48k) in the Rocky Mountains Region

1

Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$12,736 Average Net Price

$45,865 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado State University - Fort Collins landed the #1 spot on the list. Colorado State University - Fort Collins is located in Fort Collins, Colorado and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 27 ’s natural sciences degrees to qualified students.

Colorado State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Colorado State University - Fort Collins is $12,736 for rocky mountains region natural sciences students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Full Colorado State Natural Sciences Report

2

University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming

#2 in overall quality

$6,776 Average Net Price

$44,258 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Wyoming. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $30-$48k. UW is a fairly large public school situated in Laramie, Wyoming. It awarded 6 ’s natural sciences degrees in 2020-2021.

UW also made our “Best Natural Sciences Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for UW is $6,776 for rocky mountains region natural sciences students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Natural Sciences at UW

• Best Value Colleges for Natural Sciences (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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Agsftw.