by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for lay ministry students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 95 degrees in lay ministry annually.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
Your choice of lay ministry school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Lay Ministry School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
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 Lay Ministry Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
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.
If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the lay ministry degrees they offer, see the list below.
North Central University is a good choice for students pursuing a degree in lay ministry. North Central University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Minneapolis. This university ranks 953rd out of 2,152 schools for overall quality nationwide.
There were about 15 lay ministry students who graduated with this degree at North Central University in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in lay ministry from North Central University
University of Northwestern - St Paul is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in lay ministry. Located in the large suburb of Saint Paul, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #441 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were approximately 12 lay ministry students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in lay ministry from University of Northwestern - St Paul
It's hard to beat Bethel University Minnesota if you want to pursue a degree in lay ministry. Bethel University Minnesota is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Paul. This university ranks 14th out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were approximately 10 lay ministry students who graduated with this degree at Bethel University Minnesota in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in lay ministry from Bethel University MinnesotaExplore the best lay ministry colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .
| State | Colleges | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 742 | 25 |
| Missouri | 693 | 17 |
| Iowa | 648 | 0 |
| Kansas | 599 | 3 |
| South Dakota | 381 | 6 |
Lay Ministry is one of 6 different types of Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries programs to choose from.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Pastoral Studies/Counseling | 95 |
| Other Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries | 88 |
| Youth Ministry | 46 |
| Women’s Ministry | 8 |
| Urban Ministry | 2 |
More about our data sources and methodologies.