2023 Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2020-2021, 9,470 people earned their degree in religious studies, making the major the 90th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, religious studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $34,289 and had an average of $24,431 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 374 religious studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,550 and $23,250 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in religious studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great religious studies programs and cost less that 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 religious studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k” 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region religion students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Plains States Region

1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#2 in overall quality

$7,698 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities landed the #1 spot on the list. UMN Twin Cities is a public institution located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school has a large population, and it awarded 4 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UMN Twin Cities also made our “Best Religious Studies Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is $7,698 for Plains States Region Religion students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Religious Studies Report

2

University of St Thomas Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$32,436 Average Net Price

$56,351 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St Thomas Minnesota. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 45 diplomas to qualified ’s religion students in 2020-2021.

UST MN also took the #1 spot in our “Best Religious Studies Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of St Thomas Minnesota is $32,436 for Plains States Region Religion students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.4% 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 UST MN Religious Studies Report

• Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies (Income $0-$30k)

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 Sowlos.