2023 Best Value Colleges for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology (Income $48-$75k) in the Plains States Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology is the 227th most popular major in the country with 1,140 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, atmospheric sciences and meteorology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $35,965 and had an average of $23,086 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 101 atmospheric sciences and meteorology graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,522 and $20,325 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in atmospheric sciences and meteorology. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality atmospheric sciences and meteorology 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 atmospheric sciences and meteorology program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most 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 Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology (Income $48-$75k) in the Plains States Region

1

Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$14,641 Average Net Price

$48,142 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s meteorology degrees to 17 students in 2020-2021.

Iowa State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State University is $14,641 for plains states region meteorology students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology at Iowa State

2

University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, Missouri

#2 in overall quality

$13,715 Average Net Price

$46,901 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Missouri - Columbia landed the #2 spot on the list. Mizzou is located in Columbia, Missouri and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 19 ’s meteorology degrees to qualified students.

Mizzou also made our “Best Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend University of Missouri - Columbia is $13,715 for plains states region meteorology students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.5% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology at Mizzou

3

University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

#3 in overall quality

$18,586 Average Net Price

$50,693 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Kansas landed the #3 spot on the list. This large school is located in Lawrence, Kansas, and it awarded 10 ’s meteorology degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at KU, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend KU is $18,586 for Plains States Region Meteorology students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Full University of Kansas Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Report

• Best Value Colleges for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology (Income $48-$75k)

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.