2023 Best Value Colleges for Forestry (Income $30-$48k) in the Plains States Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2020-2021, 2,233 people earned their degree in forestry, making the major the 189th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, forestry graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $38,829 and had an average of $21,444 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 112 forestry graduates with average earnings and debt of $36,106 and $21,734 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in forestry. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality forestry programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the forestry program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Forestry 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 Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most 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 Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Forestry (Income $30-$48k) in the Plains States Region

1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$8,609 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k list. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a large school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota that handed out 55 ’s forestry degrees in 2020-2021.

UMN Twin Cities also made our “Best Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $8,609 for Plains States Region Forestry students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UMN Twin Cities.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% 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%.

Read more about Forestry at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

2

Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$11,427 Average Net Price

$48,142 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $30-$48k. Iowa State is a large public school situated in Ames, Iowa. It awarded 26 ’s forestry degrees in 2020-2021.

Iowa State also made our “Best Forestry Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State is $11,427 for plains states region forestry students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Forestry at Iowa State University

• Best Value Colleges for Forestry (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 Bureau of Land Management.