2023 Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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.

This year’s “Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered 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.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the religious studies 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 Religious Studies Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Religion Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region religion students with aid.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#2 in overall quality

$17,878 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 Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a large school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota that handed out 4 ’s religion degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMN Twin Cities, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Religious Studies Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is $17,878 for plains states region religion students with aid.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.

Read full report on Religious Studies at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

2

University of St Thomas Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$31,066 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 Getting Aid list. Located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 45 degrees to qualified ’s religion students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our plains states region religion students with aid list, UST MN has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Religious Studies Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UST MN is $31,066 for plains states region religion students with aid.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read full report on Religious Studies at University of St Thomas Minnesota

• Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies (With Aid)

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.