2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

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 Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Geological & Earth Sciences is the 84th most popular major in the country with 8,918 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, geological and earth sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $35,533 and had an average of $23,531 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 70 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in geological and earth sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent geological and earth sciences programs, but they also 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 geological and earth sciences program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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 Value Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$10,757 Average Net Price

$39,900 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Northern Iowa. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Northern Iowa is a medium-sized school located in Cedar Falls, Iowa that handed out 10 ’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

UNI also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend University of Northern Iowa is $10,757 for Iowa Geology students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UNI Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#2

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$10,054 Average Net Price

$46,410 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Ames, Iowa, and it awarded 22 ’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State University is $10,054 for iowa geology students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at Iowa State

• Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $0-$30k)

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 Kelvinsong.

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