2023 Best Value Colleges for Industrial Design in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 1,792 people earned their degree in industrial design, making the major the 304th most popular in the United States.

Across the Plains States region, there were 88 industrial design graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in industrial design. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent industrial design programs, but they also cost less that 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 industrial design program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Industrial Design 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 Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region product design students with aid.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Industrial Design in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

1

Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$16,002 Average Net Price

$48,142 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Iowa State University is a large school located in Ames, Iowa that handed out 61 ’s product design degrees in 2020-2021.

Iowa State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Industrial Design Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State University is $16,002 for Plains States Region Product Design students with aid.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.4% 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.

Full Iowa State University Industrial Design Report

2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#2 in overall quality

$17,878 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a large school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota that handed out 23 ’s product design degrees in 2020-2021.

UMN Twin Cities did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Industrial Design Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UMN Twin Cities is $17,878 for Plains States Region Product Design students with aid.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.

Full UMN Twin Cities Industrial Design Report

• Best Value Colleges for Industrial Design (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.