2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in Iowa (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 8,918 people earned their degree in geological and earth sciences, making the major the 84th most popular in the United States. 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. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 56 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree 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.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the geological and earth sciences program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Geological & Earth Sciences Schools

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 Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

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

Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in Iowa (With Aid)

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$15,620 Average Net Price

$38,289 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northern Iowa. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this medium-sized public school awarded 10 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s geology students in 2019-2020.

UNI not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. The estimated yearly cost for UNI is $15,620 for iowa bachelor’s degree geology students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 3.6% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at UNI

#2

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$15,496 Average Net Price

$32,382 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa State University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s geology degrees to 16 students in 2019-2020.

Iowa State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $15,496 for iowa bachelor’s degree geology students with aid per year to attend Iowa State.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Iowa State Geological & Earth Sciences Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in the Plains States Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Kelvinsong.

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