2023 Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 1,375 people earned their degree in astronomy and astrophysics, making the major the 219th most popular in the United States. 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.

This year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in astronomy and astrophysics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality astronomy and astrophysics 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 astronomy and astrophysics program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools

The astronomy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid”.

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.

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

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$17,878 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 Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities landed the #1 spot on the list. UMN 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 also took the #1 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $17,878 for plains states region astronomy students with aid per year to attend UMN Twin Cities.

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%.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

2

University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$19,401 Average Net Price

$50,430 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Iowa is located in Iowa City, Iowa and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 10 ’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Iowa, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Iowa is $19,401 for plains states region astronomy students with aid.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of Iowa Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

3

University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

#3 in overall quality

$20,257 Average Net Price

$50,693 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Kansas landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Kansas is a large public school situated in Lawrence, Kansas. It awarded 9 ’s astronomy degrees in 2020-2021.

KU also took the #3 spot in our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $20,257 for Plains States Region Astronomy students with aid per year to attend KU.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Kansas

• Best Value Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (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.