2022 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Physical Sciences is the 18th most popular major in the country with 52,879 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, physical sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $38,122 and had an average of $22,339 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 490 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $25,510 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 378 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in physical sciences. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great physical sciences programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the physical sciences program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. 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 Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” 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. 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 Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for iowa bachelor’s degree physical sciences students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$10,054 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s physical sciences degrees to 85 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Iowa State, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State University is $10,054 for iowa bachelor’s degree physical sciences 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Iowa State

#2

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$10,757 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. UNI is a medium-sized school located in Cedar Falls, Iowa that handed out 29 bachelors’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UNI, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UNI is $10,757 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Physical Sciences students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Northern Iowa Physical Sciences Report

#3

Luther College

Decorah, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$16,636 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Luther College. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Decorah, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 13 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s physical sciences students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Luther, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Luther is $16,636 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Physical Sciences students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Luther College Physical Sciences Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical 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 NASA.

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