2023 Best Value Colleges for Applied Economics in the Plains States Region

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2020-2021, 618 people earned their degree in applied economics, making the major the 534th most popular in the United States.

Across the Plains States region, there were 105 applied economics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in applied economics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality applied economics programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the applied economics program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Applied Economics 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 Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Applied Economics in the Plains States Region

1

University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$16,438 Average Net Price

$40,810 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this medium-sized public school awarded 22 degrees to qualified ’s applied economics students in 2020-2021.

UNI did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $16,438 for Plains States Region Applied Economics students per year to attend UNI.

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 school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Northern Iowa Applied Economics Report

2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$17,878 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region. This large school is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it awarded 73 ’s applied economics degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMN Twin Cities, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $17,878 for Plains States Region Applied Economics students per year to attend UMN Twin Cities.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Applied Economics at UMN Twin Cities

3

St Catherine University
Saint Paul, Minnesota

#3 in overall quality

$17,814 Average Net Price

$53,926 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend St Catherine University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region list. St. Kate’s is a private not-for-profit institution located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

St. Kate’s also made our “Best Applied Economics Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for St Catherine University is $17,814 for plains states region applied economics students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Applied Economics at St. Kate’s

• Best Value Colleges for Applied Economics

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 pixabay.