by our College Data Analytics Team
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region” ranking - to help you make that decision.
Child Development & Psychology is the 57th most popular major in the country with 17,542 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, child development and psychology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $34,186 and had an average of $22,623 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Plains States region, there were 1,633 child development and psychology graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,872 and $22,258 respectively.
This year’s “Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region” ranking looked at 26 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in child development and psychology. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have one of the most popular child development and psychology programs in the United States.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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 “Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region” list to help you make the college decision.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region child development students.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Park University. The school came in at #1 for the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region. Park University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Parkville, Missouri. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 257 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Park University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Washington University in St Louis. The school came in at #2 for the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region. Washington University in St Louis is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Saint Louis, Missouri. It awarded 210 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Out of the 26 schools in the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities landed the #3 spot on the list. Minneapolis, Minnesota is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s child development degrees to 174 students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% 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 more about Child Development & Psychology at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Capella University. The school came in at #4 for the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region. Capella University is a large private for-profit school situated in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It awarded 143 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about Child Development & Psychology at Capella University
Out of the 26 schools in the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Kansas State University landed the #5 spot on the list. Kansas State University is located in Manhattan, Kansas and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 108 ’s child development degrees to qualified students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
With a ranking of #6, Creighton University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region list. Creighton University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Omaha, Nebraska. It awarded 93 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Creighton
Walden University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #7. This large school is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it awarded 76 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Walden University Child Development & Psychology Report
St Olaf College did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #8. St Olaf College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Northfield, Minnesota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 74 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
University of Central Missouri came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in Warrensburg, Missouri, this fairly large public school awarded 69 diplomas to qualified ’s child development students in 2020-2021.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at University of Central Missouri
Northwest Missouri State University landed the #10 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. Northwest Missouri State University is a public institution located in Maryville, Missouri. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 68 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Northwest
With a ranking of #11, University of Kansas did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region list. Lawrence, Kansas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s child development degrees to 58 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
With a ranking of #12, University of Nebraska at Kearney did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region list. UNK is a medium-sized school located in Kearney, Nebraska that handed out 43 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Child Development & Psychology at University of Nebraska at Kearney
Carleton College landed the #13 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. Northfield, Minnesota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s child development degrees to 35 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Carleton
Macalester College came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. Macalester College is located in Saint Paul, Minnesota and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 33 ’s child development degrees to qualified students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Luther College did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #15. Decorah, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s child development degrees to 32 students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% 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%.
With a ranking of #16, Grinnell College did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region list. This small school is located in Grinnell, Iowa, and it awarded 30 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Grinnell College
University of Missouri - Columbia came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. Mizzou is located in Columbia, Missouri and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 20 ’s child development degrees to qualified students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #18, Metropolitan State University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region list. Located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, this medium-sized public school handed out 15 diplomas to qualified ’s child development students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.2% 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 more about Child Development & Psychology at Metro State
Maryville University of Saint Louis came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. This fairly large school is located in Saint Louis, Missouri, and it awarded 13 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Saint Louis University ranked #20 on this year’s Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region list. Located in Saint Louis, Missouri, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 12 degrees to qualified ’s child development students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.
Cottey College did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #21. Nevada, Missouri is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s child development degrees to 7 students in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Cottey College
Morningside College did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #22. This small school is located in Sioux City, Iowa, and it awarded 5 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Morningside
McPherson College landed the #23 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. This small school is located in McPherson, Kansas, and it awarded 4 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
Full McPherson College Child Development & Psychology Report
North Dakota State University - Main Campus did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #24. North Dakota State University is a fairly large public school situated in Fargo, North Dakota. It awarded 2 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Child Development & Psychology at North Dakota State University
Cornell College landed the #24 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking. Mount Vernon, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s child development degrees to 2 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Augsburg University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Child Development Major in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #24. This small school is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it awarded 2 ’s child development degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about Child Development & Psychology at Augsburg University
Read more about our data sources and methodologies