2022 Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools for an Associate in the Plains States Region

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools for an Associate in the Plains States Region” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 30,341 people earned their degree in natural resources and conservation, making the major the 26th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, natural resources and conservation graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $33,196 and had an average of $25,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 1,830 natural resources and conservation graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,070 and $31,094 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 160 natural resources and conservation graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,069 and $19,434 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools for an Associate in the Plains States Region” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in natural resources and conservation. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great natural resources and conservation programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the natural resources and conservation program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools for an Associate in the Plains States Region” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools for an Associate in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region associate degree natural resources & conservation students.

Top 2 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Natural Resources & Conservation in the Plains States Region

#1

Itasca Community College

Grand Rapids, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$11,449 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Itasca Community College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools for an Associate in the Plains States Region. Located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, this small public school handed out 7 diplomas to qualified associates’s natural resources and conservation students in 2019-2020.

Itasca Community College also took the #1 spot in our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $11,449 for Plains States Region Associate Degree Natural Resources & Conservation students per year to attend Itasca Community College.

Read full report on Natural Resources & Conservation at Itasca Community College

#2

Vermilion Community College

Ely, Minnesota

#2 in overall quality

$14,154 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Vermilion Community College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Natural Resources & Conservation Schools for an Associate in the Plains States Region. Ely, Minnesota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s natural resources and conservation degrees to 49 students in 2019-2020.

Vermilion Community College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Natural Resources & Conservation Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. It costs about $14,154 for Plains States Region Associate Degree Natural Resources & Conservation students per year to attend Vermilion Community College.

Full Vermilion Community College Natural Resources & Conservation Report

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Natural Resources & Conservation

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Lynn Betts.

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