There are lots of options to choose from today when trying to decide which grad school to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our Best Doctor's Degree Colleges in Missouri ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
After analyzing 14 grad schools in Missouri, we came up with our list of those that offered the best doctorate degree programs. Our ranking for the best grad schools is based on objective factors. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another. The following gives more info on what goes into our ranking factors and why we consider those factors.
Better Early-Career Average Salaries
The average early-career salary of those graduating with a doctorate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. Recent students who earned a doctorate degree in Missouri entered the job market making an average of $74,814 while those in the top 12 schools on our list made an average of $75,227.
Starting Salary ( 53751 to 87153 )
Student Loan Borrowing
In addition to average starting salaries, we also consider the average amount of student loans that graduate students take on while pursuing their doctorate degree.
The average debt load at a particular school may not be bad, but it's an important thing to consider in conjunction with post-graduation earnings.
Additional Ranking Factors We Use
Our Best Doctorate Degree Schools considers other factors in addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt.
These factors include things like the educational resources, the demand associated with the school, whether or not the school offers online classes, and the student body caliber - just to name a few.
Our 2024 rankings named Washington University in St Louis the best grad school in Missouri in terms of overall quality for students working on their doctorate degree. Washington University in St Louis is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Saint Louis, Missouri that handed out 742 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from WUSTL make an average of $72,507 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Missouri University of Science and Technology. The school came in at #2 in Missouri on this year’s best doctorate degree schools ranking. Missouri University of Science and Technology is a public institution located in Rolla, Missouri. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 118 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The excellent doctorate degree programs at Maryville University of Saint Louis helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Missouri. Maryville University of Saint Louis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in Saint Louis, Missouri that handed out 201 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, doctorate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $87,031 during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Rockhurst University. The school came in at #4 in Missouri on this year’s best doctorate degree schools ranking. Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 47 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Rockhurst make an average of $65,843 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Louis University. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri list. Saint Louis, Missouri is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 571 students in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from SLU make an average of $64,621 a year.
University of Missouri - Columbia came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri ranking. University of Missouri - Columbia is a large public school located in Columbia, Missouri that handed out 792 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from Mizzou go into careers with an average salary of $65,192 during the early years of their career.
Missouri State University - Springfield came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri ranking. Located in Springfield, Missouri, the large public school handed out 149 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Missouri State make an average of $117,060 per year during the early years of their career.
Webster University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri ranking, coming in at #8. Located in Saint Louis, Missouri, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 45 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #9, University of Missouri - Kansas City did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri list. UMKC is a public institution located in Kansas City, Missouri. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 615 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a doctorate degree from UMKC go into careers with an average salary of $91,940 during the early years of their career.
Lindenwood University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri ranking, coming in at #10. Lindenwood University is located in Saint Charles, Missouri and has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 53 doctorate degrees to qualified graduate students.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Lindenwood University make an average of $57,387 a year.
With a ranking of #11, University of Missouri - St Louis did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri list. UMSL is a fairly large public school situated in Saint Louis, Missouri. It awarded 172 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UMSL make an average of $76,569 per year during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #12, William Woods University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri list. Located in Fulton, Missouri, the small private not-for-profit school handed out 68 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from William Woods make an average of $75,905 per year during the early years of their career.
Evangel University did quite well in the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri ranking, coming in at #13. Located in Springfield, Missouri, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 33 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Evangel is $60,275 during the early years of their career.
Southwest Baptist University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Missouri list. Southwest Baptist University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Bolivar, Missouri. The school has a small population, and it awarded 86 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a doctorate degree from Southwest Baptist University is $68,398 during the early years of their career.
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%.
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