2023 Best Value Colleges for Sustainability Science (Income $48-$75k) in the Plains States Region

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 Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Sustainability Science is the 176th most popular major in the country with 3,005 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, sustainability science graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $42,827 and had an average of $23,160 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 193 sustainability science graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $19,050 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in sustainability science. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent sustainability science programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the sustainability science program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Sustainability Science Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” list to help you make the college 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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

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

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

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

1

Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, Missouri

#1 in overall quality

$8,149 Average Net Price

$61,341 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Washington University in St Louis. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Saint Louis, Missouri is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s sustainability science degrees to 32 students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our plains states region sustainability science students whose families make $48-$75k list, WUSTL has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for WUSTL is $8,149 for plains states region sustainability science students whose families make $48-$75k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Sustainability Science at Washington University in St Louis

2

Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$14,641 Average Net Price

$48,142 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #2 spot on the list. Iowa State is a large school located in Ames, Iowa that handed out 22 ’s sustainability science degrees in 2020-2021.

Iowa State also took the #3 spot in our “Best Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $14,641 for plains states region sustainability science students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Iowa State University.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%.

Full Iowa State University Sustainability Science Report

3

University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$18,026 Average Net Price

$50,430 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Iowa City, Iowa, this large public school handed out 89 diplomas to qualified ’s sustainability science students in 2020-2021.

Iowa also made our “Best Sustainability Science Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend Iowa is $18,026 for Plains States Region Sustainability Science students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.2% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Sustainability Science at University of Iowa

• Best Value Colleges for Sustainability Science (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 TonyTheTiger.