2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology in the Plains States Region

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 Meteorology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology is the 230th most popular major in the country with 1,167 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, atmospheric sciences and meteorology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,050 and had an average of $25,463 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 110 atmospheric sciences and meteorology graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,800 and $24,625 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 85 atmospheric sciences and meteorology graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,786 and $25,576 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Meteorology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The meteorology 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 Meteorology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region”.

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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Meteorology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Meteorology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology in the Plains States Region

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$15,496 Average Net Price

$32,925 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 for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. Iowa State University is a large school located in Ames, Iowa that handed out 10 bachelors’s meteorology degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State is $15,496 for plains states region bachelor’s degree meteorology students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, 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 89%.

Full Iowa State University Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Report

#2

University of Missouri - Columbia

Columbia, Missouri

#1 in overall quality

$16,001 Average Net Price

$34,348 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Missouri - Columbia. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Meteorology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Mizzou is a large school located in Columbia, Missouri that handed out 28 bachelors’s meteorology degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree meteorology students list, Mizzou has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Missouri - Columbia is $16,001 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Meteorology students.

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 school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology at Mizzou

#3

University of Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

#2 in overall quality

$18,918 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Kansas. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Meteorology Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region list. Lawrence, Kansas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s meteorology degrees to 14 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree meteorology students list, KU has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend KU is $18,918 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Meteorology students.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology at University of Kansas

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology

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.

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