2023 Most Focused Colleges for Outdoor Education in the Plains States Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2020-2021, 265 people earned their degree in outdoor education, making the major the 313th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, outdoor education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $27,786 and had an average of $18,614 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 31 outdoor education graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in outdoor education. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in outdoor education.

Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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.

Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region”.

Top 3 Most Focused Colleges for Outdoor Education in the Plains States Region

1

Vermilion Community College
Ely, Minnesota

$18,500 Average Student Debt

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Vermilion Community College landed the #1 spot on the list. Ely, Minnesota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s outdoor ed degrees to 13 students in 2020-2021.

Full Vermilion Community College Outdoor Education Report

2

Black Hills State University
Spearfish, South Dakota

$34,476 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,934 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Black Hills State University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region. Black Hills State University is a small school located in Spearfish, South Dakota that handed out 8 ’s outdoor ed degrees in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Outdoor Education at Black Hills State University

3

Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, Minnesota

$46,060 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,152 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Minnesota State University - Mankato. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Outdoor Ed Major in the Plains States Region list. Mankato, Minnesota is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s outdoor ed degrees to 10 students in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Outdoor Education at Minnesota State University - Mankato

• Most Focused Colleges for Outdoor Education

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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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 SLenartowicz.