2022 Best Colleges in Kansas
It's not easy to decide which college to attend when you have so many options available. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our Top Kansas Schools ranking - to help you make that decision.
We analyzed 54 colleges and universities across Kansas to determine which were the best in terms of overall quality. Our ranking is based on over 20 objective factors, including post graduate earnings, freshman retention, and graduation rate. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another.
See what other factors we include in our ranking methodology.
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We know that one set of rankings doesn't always help you determine the best school for you, so we've created the ability to narrow your list by location and field of study as well as alternative rankings that prioritize different factors such as those of importance to veterans and returning adults or those who value diversity and value for your money.
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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head!
Top Colleges in Kansas
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Kansas State University tops this year’s ranking as the best school in Kansas for overall quality.Manhattan, Kansas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 5,792 students in 2019-2020.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from K -State make an average of $45,600 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Kansas. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas list. Located in Lawrence, Kansas, the large public school awarded 7,267 diplomas to qualifed bachelor’s degree students in 2019-2020.
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 average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from KU is $48,800 during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Johnson County Community College. The school came in at #3 in Kansas on this year’s overall quality ranking.Overland Park, Kansas is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 1,713 students in 2019-2020.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from JCCC go into careers with an average salary of $36,600 during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Emporia State University. The school came in at #4 in Kansas on this year’s overall quality ranking. Located in Emporia, Kansas, the medium-sized public school handed out 1,630 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
During the early years of their career, graduates from ESU make an average of $37,100 a year.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Southwestern College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Kansas. Located in Winfield, Kansas, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 404 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from SC go into careers with an average salary of $46,400 during the early years of their career.
Baker University did quite well in the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas ranking, coming in at #6. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Baldwin City, Kansas, and it awarded 765 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $51,300 during the early years of their career..
Benedictine College landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas ranking. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Atchison, Kansas, and it awarded 574 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $40,100 during the early years of their career..
Fort Hays State University landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas ranking. FHSU is a public institution located in Hays, Kansas. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 3,928 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from FHSU is $38,200 during the early years of their career.
Newman University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Kansas ranking. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Wichita, Kansas, and it awarded 410 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $44,000 during the early years of their career..
Garden City Community College did quite well in the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas ranking, coming in at #10. Garden City Community College is a small public school located in Garden City, Kansas that handed out 313 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Garden City Community College make an average of $31,500 a year.
Pittsburg State University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Colleges in Kansas list. This medium-sized public school is located in Pittsburg, Kansas, and it awarded 1,644 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Pitt State is $39,400 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #12, Ottawa University - Ottawa did quite well on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas list. Located in Ottawa, Kansas, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 121 diplomas to qualifed bachelor’s degree students in 2019-2020.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $41,500 during the early years of their career..
MidAmerica Nazarene University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Kansas ranking. Located in Olathe, Kansas, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 601 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from MNU go into careers with an average salary of $42,900 during the early years of their career.
Hutchinson Community College came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Kansas ranking. Located in Hutchinson, Kansas, the small public school handed out 905 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Hutchinson Community College make an average of $33,800 per year during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #15, Flint Hills Technical College did quite well on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas list. This small public school is located in Emporia, Kansas, and it awarded 101 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Flint Hills Technical College is $32,700 during the early years of their career.
Sterling College came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Kansas ranking.Sterling, Kansas is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 104 students in 2019-2020.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $35,700 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #17, University of Saint Mary did quite well on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas list. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Leavenworth, Kansas, and it awarded 355 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from University of St. Mary is $38,500 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #18, Cowley County Community College did quite well on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas list. Cowley County Community College is a small public school located in Arkansas City, Kansas that handed out 417 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Cowley College is $32,400 during the early years of their career.
Wichita State University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Kansas ranking. WSU is a public institution located in Wichita, Kansas. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 3,312 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $40,400 during the early years of their career..
Butler Community College ranked #20 on this year’s Best Colleges in Kansas list. Butler Community College is a medium-sized public school located in El Dorado, Kansas that handed out 1,149 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $32,800 during the early years of their career..
With a ranking of #21, Kansas City Kansas Community College did quite well on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas list. Kansas City Kansas Community College is located in Kansas City, Kansas and has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 455 bachelor’s degrees to qualified undergradutates.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Kansas City Kansas Community College make an average of $31,200 a year.
With a ranking of #22, Washburn University did quite well on the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas list.Topeka, Kansas is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelor’s degrees to 1,458 students in 2019-2020.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $40,300 during the early years of their career..
Haskell Indian Nations University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Colleges in Kansas list. Located in Lawrence, Kansas, the small public school awarded 162 diplomas to qualifed bachelor’s degree students in 2019-2020.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Haskell make an average of $24,900 a year.
Friends University did quite well in the 2022 Best Colleges in Kansas ranking, coming in at #24. Friends University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Wichita, Kansas. The school has a small population, and it awarded 547 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Friends University make an average of $41,800 per year during the early years of their career.
Seward County Community College came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Kansas ranking. Seward County Community College is a small public school located in Liberal, Kansas that handed out 213 bachelor’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from SCCC go into careers with an average salary of $32,800 during the early years of their career.
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
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%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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