2025 Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

If you pursue a doctor's degree in civil engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #29 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 2 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 83 doctor's degrees in civil engineering to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to civil engineering students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other civil engineering students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt civil engineering students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized civil engineering related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for civil engineering students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Civil Engineering in the Plains States Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in civil engineering.

Top Plains States Region Schools for a Doctorate in Civil Eng

1

Iowa State University
Ames, IA

18 Annual Graduates

Iowa State University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in civil engineering. Iowa State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Ames.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from Iowa State University

2

Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, MO

12 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in civil engineering needs to check out Missouri University of Science and Technology. Located in the town of Rolla, Missouri University of Science and Technology is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology

Best Civil Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best civil engineering colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	122	20
Minnesota	120	10
Iowa	110	26
Kansas	97	11
Nebraska	70	10
North Dakota	68	4
South Dakota	45	5

View All Rankings >

Civil Engineering Related Rankings by Major

Civil Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Civil Eng Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Civil Engineering	83

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Biomedical Engineering	92
Mechanical Engineering	81
Electrical Engineering	78
Chemical Engineering	61
Industrial Engineering	44
Engineering Mechanics	36
Other Engineering	33
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	28
Materials Engineering	20
Agricultural Engineering	18

Notes and References

• 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 Master Sgt. Roger Parsons. More about our data sources and methodologies.