2023 Best Value Colleges for Industrial Design (Income $48-$75k) in the Plains States Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Industrial Design is the 304th most popular major in the country with 1,792 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Plains States region, there were 88 industrial design graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in industrial design. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality industrial design programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the industrial design program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The product design school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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.

Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Industrial Design (Income $48-$75k) in the Plains States Region

1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#2 in overall quality

$12,911 Average Net Price

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k. This large school is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it awarded 23 ’s product design degrees in 2020-2021.

UMN Twin Cities did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Industrial Design Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for UMN Twin Cities is $12,911 for plains states region product design students whose families make $48-$75k.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Industrial Design Report

2

Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$14,641 Average Net Price

$48,142 Average Early-Career Earnings

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 Product Design Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Ames, Iowa, this large public school handed out 61 diplomas to qualified ’s product design students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Iowa State, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Industrial Design Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State is $14,641 for plains states region product design students whose families make $48-$75k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.4% 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 Iowa State Industrial Design Report

• Best Value Colleges for Industrial Design (Income $48-$75k)

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.