2022 Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in South Dakota

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota, there were 15 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This ranking identifies schools with high-quality geological and earth sciences programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the geological and earth sciences program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 South Dakota 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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Geology Schools in South Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 1 Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in South Dakota

#1

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Rapid City, South Dakota

#1 in overall quality

$15,464 Average Net Price

$62,300 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Geology Schools in South Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Rapid City, South Dakota, this small public school awarded 13 degrees to qualified ’s geology students in 2019-2020.

SD Mines did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in South Dakota” list. The yearly cost to attend SD Mines is $15,464 for South Dakota Geology students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.8% 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%.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at SD Mines

• 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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