2025 Best Outdoor Education Schools in the Plains States Region

If you're seeking a degree in outdoor education, you will have fewer peers than average since the major degree program is the #313 one in the country in terms of popularity.While this may limit the number of schools that offer the degree program, there are still top-quality ones to be found.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Outdoor Education Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 35 degrees in outdoor education to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

• Best Overall Outdoor Education Schools List

Pick Your Outdoor Education Degree Level

The outdoor ed 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 Outdoor Education Schools in the Plains States Region. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Outdoor 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 outdoor ed degrees they offer, see the list below.

Top Plains States Region Schools in Outdoor Ed

1

Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, MN

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

Every student pursuing a degree in outdoor education has to take a look at Minnesota State University - Mankato. Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Mankato.More information about a degree in outdoor education from Minnesota State University - Mankato

2

Black Hills State University
Spearfish, SD

Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type

42.9% Growth in Graduates

Black Hills State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in outdoor education. BHSU is a small public university located in the distant town of Spearfish.More information about a degree in outdoor education from Black Hills State University

Best Outdoor Education Colleges by State

Explore the best outdoor education schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Minnesota	284	17
South Dakota	204	6

View All Rankings >

Outdoor Education Related Rankings by Major

Outdoor Education is one of 4 different types of Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies programs to choose from.

Outdoor Ed Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Outdoor Education	35

View All Outdoor Ed Focus Areas >

Most Popular Majors Related to Outdoor Ed

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education	4,990
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies	396
Recreation Administration	142
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies	19

View All Outdoor Ed Related Majors >

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 SLenartowicz.

More about our data sources and methodologies.