2025 Best Elementary Education Schools in the Plains States Region
91Colleges in the Plains States Region
6,332Elementary Teaching Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in elementary education, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #17 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 91 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Elementary Education Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 6,332 degrees in elementary education to qualified students.
Your choice of elementary education school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Elementary Education School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
The elementary teaching 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 the Best Elementary Education Schools in the Plains States Region.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
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.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Elementary Education in the Plains States Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the elementary teaching degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
18 Top Plains States Region Schools in Elementary Teaching
It is difficult to beat University of Minnesota - Twin Cities if you wish to pursue a degree in elementary education. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the city of Minneapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.
There were about 61 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent data year.
It's hard to beat Kansas State University if you want to pursue a degree in elementary education. Located in the city of Manhattan, K -State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #269 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means K -State is a great university overall.
There were about 298 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at K -State in the most recent year we have data available.
University of Northern Iowa is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in elementary education. UNI is a medium-sized public university located in the small city of Cedar Falls. A Best Colleges rank of #270 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.
There were about 281 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent year we have data available.
Any student pursuing a degree in elementary education needs to take a look at Iowa State University. Iowa State is a very large public university located in the small city of Ames. A Best Colleges rank of #88 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 163 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #80 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.
There were about 113 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent year we have data available.
Missouri State is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Springfield. This university ranks 10th out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were approximately 201 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at Missouri State in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #131 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Mizzou is a great university overall.
There were approximately 97 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at Mizzou in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Lincoln, UNL is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #207 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UNL is a great university overall.
There were approximately 99 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at UNL in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the distant town of Winona, Winona State is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #330 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Winona State is a great university overall.
There were about 132 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at Winona State in the most recent data year.
Located in the town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 21st out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were about 232 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at UCM in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #192 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means KU is a great university overall.
There were about 74 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at KU in the most recent data year.
Located in the remote town of Emporia, ESU is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 11th out of 44 colleges for overall quality in the state of Kansas.
There were roughly 160 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at ESU in the most recent year we have data available.
Minnesota State Mankato is a large public university located in the small city of Mankato. A Best Colleges rank of #412 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Minnesota State Mankato is a great university overall.
There were about 119 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at Minnesota State Mankato in the most recent data year.
Northwest is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Maryville. This university ranks 20th out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were roughly 79 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at Northwest in the most recent data year.
UND is a large public university located in the city of Grand Forks. A Best Colleges rank of #335 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UND is a great university overall.
There were about 56 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at UND in the most recent data year.
Located in the suburb of Moorhead, MSU Moorhead is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 30th out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were roughly 67 elementary education students who graduated with this degree at MSU Moorhead in the most recent data year.
Rest of the Top Best Elementary Education Schools in the Plains States Region
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Elementary Education Schools in the Plains States Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Vgrigas.
Your choice of elementary education school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Elementary Education School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
