2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Iowa

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 52,879 people earned their degree in physical sciences, making the major the 18th most popular in the United States. 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” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in physical sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality physical sciences programs that also have a lower cost than 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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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 Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in Iowa

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$15,620 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Northern Iowa 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 $15,620 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Physical Sciences students.

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 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%.

Full University of Northern Iowa Physical Sciences Report

#2

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$15,496 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 #2 for the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa. Located in Ames, Iowa, this large public school awarded 85 degrees to qualified bachelors’s physical sciences students in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also took the #3 spot in our “Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $15,496 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Physical Sciences students per year to attend Iowa State.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, 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 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Iowa State Physical Sciences Report

#3

Luther College

Decorah, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$23,620 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. This small school is located in Decorah, Iowa, and it awarded 13 bachelors’s physical sciences degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa bachelor’s degree physical sciences students list, Luther has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Luther College is $23,620 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Physical Sciences students.

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%.

Read more about Physical Sciences at Luther

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences

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.

Featured Physical Sciences Schools

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