2023 Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k

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 Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Astronomy & Astrophysics is the 219th most popular major in the country with 1,375 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, astronomy and astrophysics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,221 and had an average of $24,484 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 44 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $27,000 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great astronomy and astrophysics programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the astronomy and astrophysics program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. 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 Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $75-$110k) in the Plains States Region

1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$18,938 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k 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 located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 23 ’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

UMN Twin Cities not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $18,938 for Plains States Region Astronomy students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. 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%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at UMN Twin Cities

2

University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$20,719 Average Net Price

$50,430 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Iowa. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. Iowa is a large school located in Iowa City, Iowa that handed out 10 ’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.

Iowa also made our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $20,719 for plains states region astronomy students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Iowa.

With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. 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%.

Full Iowa Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

3

University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

#3 in overall quality

$22,804 Average Net Price

$50,693 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Kansas. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k. University of Kansas is located in Lawrence, Kansas and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 9 ’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at KU, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for KU is $22,804 for Plains States Region Astronomy students whose families make $75-$110k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.3% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Read more about Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Kansas

• Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $75-$110k)

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.