2023 Best Value Colleges for Geoscience Engineering in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 325 people earned their degree in geoscience engineering, making the major the 304th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, geoscience engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,772 and had an average of $25,238 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 177 geoscience engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,548 and $26,625 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in geoscience engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent geoscience engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the geoscience engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Geoscience Engineering in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

1

Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, Missouri

#1 in overall quality

$12,964 Average Net Price

$63,979 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Missouri University of Science and Technology. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid list. Missouri University of Science and Technology is a public institution located in Rolla, Missouri. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 140 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Missouri University of Science and Technology, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Missouri University of Science and Technology is $12,964 for Plains States Region Geoscience Engineering students with aid.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Geoscience Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology

2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#3 in overall quality

$17,878 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid. Minneapolis, Minnesota is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s geoscience engineering degrees to 7 students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMN Twin Cities, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $17,878 for Plains States Region Geoscience Engineering students with aid per year to attend UMN Twin Cities.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Read full report on Geoscience Engineering at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

3

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Rapid City, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$19,919 Average Net Price

$64,929 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid list. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is located in Rapid City, South Dakota and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 25 ’s geoscience engineering degrees to qualified students.

SD Mines not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Geoscience Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend SD Mines is $19,919 for Plains States Region Geoscience Engineering students with aid.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% 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%.

Full SD Mines Geoscience Engineering Report

• Best Value Colleges for Geoscience Engineering (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.