by our College Data Analytics TeamWith all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take when you want to pursue a degree. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking is part of that endeavor. You may be surprised that some normally high-priced schools offer very generous financial aid packages to those who qualify.
In This Year's Value Report:
After analyzing 118 schools in the Plains States Region , we came up with our list of those that offered the best value Master's Degree programs. Our ranking methodology focuses on different objective factors to make this determination of the best value schools. We explain more about what we look at and why we do so below.
To calculate the value of a school in our Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking, we first consider its average net price, which is the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that that the student receives. In addition, the overall quality of a school is important to ensure a good education, not just how much it costs.
To make it into this list a school must offer a quality education like the schools in our Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considers factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
We go into more detail on these factors on our best value ranking methodology page.
You can scroll down to see the top schools for this ranking, but you may also want to view some of the other ranking methods listed below.
Know what field you want to major in? Make sure you check out our best value schools by major. In addition, you can select one of the links below to see the best value colleges for other degree levels.
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Missouri University of Science and Technology to be the best value (with aid) school for master’s degrees in the Plains States Region in this year’s ranking. Missouri University of Science and Technology is a public institution located in Rolla, Missouri.
Not only is Missouri University of Science and Technology a great value, but it is also ranked #4 in Missouri for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at Missouri University of Science and Technology
The quality degree programs at University of Missouri - St Louis helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region. Located in Saint Louis, Missouri, the school is a fairly large public institution.
University of Missouri - St Louis has the honor of being ranked #9 in Missouri for overall quality on top of being a good value.
The quality degree programs at Iowa State University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region. Iowa State University is a large public school located in Ames, Iowa.
Iowa State University has the honor of being ranked #2 in Iowa for overall quality on top of being a good value.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #4 on our 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. UMN Twin Cities is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has a large student population. It is a public school.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities has the honor of being ranked #1 in Minnesota for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Learn More About Value at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
The quality degree programs at Truman State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region. Truman State is a small public school situated in Kirksville, Missouri.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Truman State University is ranked #10 for quality in the state of Missouri.
University of Iowa ranked #6 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. Iowa City, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Iowa is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Iowa.
With a ranking of #7, Minot State University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. MSU is a public institution located in Minot, North Dakota.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Minot State University is ranked #4 for quality in the state of North Dakota.
University of Northern Iowa did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #8. This medium-sized public school is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
University of Northern Iowa has the honor of being ranked #4 in Iowa for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Maharishi International University landed the #9 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking. Maharishi International University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Fairfield, Iowa.
Maharishi International University has the honor of being ranked #5 in Iowa for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Learn More About Value at Maharishi International University
University of Nebraska at Omaha ranked #10 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. University of Nebraska at Omaha is a fairly large public school located in Omaha, Nebraska.
University of Nebraska at Omaha has the honor of being ranked #6 in Nebraska for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Valley City State University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking. Valley City State University is a small public school located in Valley City, North Dakota.
Not only is Valley City State University a great value, but it is also ranked #5 in North Dakota for overall quality.
With a ranking of #12, University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. This large public school is located in Columbia, Missouri.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Missouri - Columbia is ranked #3 for quality in the state of Missouri.
With a ranking of #13, Bellevue University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. Bellevue University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Bellevue, Nebraska.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Bellevue University is ranked #4 for quality in the state of Nebraska.
With a ranking of #14, University of Nebraska - Lincoln did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. UNL is a public institution located in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Nebraska - Lincoln is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Nebraska.
Saint Cloud State University landed the #15 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking. This fairly large public school is located in Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
Saint Cloud State University has the honor of being ranked #13 in Minnesota for overall quality on top of being a good value.
North Dakota State University - Main Campus ranked #16 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. North Dakota State University is a fairly large public school situated in Fargo, North Dakota.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, North Dakota State University - Main Campus is ranked #3 for quality in the state of North Dakota.
Read full value report on North Dakota State University - Main Campus
University of North Dakota came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking. This fairly large public school is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of North Dakota is ranked #2 for quality in the state of North Dakota.
Capella University landed the #18 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking. Capella University is a large private for-profit school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Capella University is ranked #4 for quality in the state of Minnesota.
University of Missouri - Kansas City did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #19. UMKC is located in Kansas City, Missouri and has a fairly large student population. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Missouri - Kansas City is ranked #11 for quality in the state of Missouri.
Northwest Missouri State University ranked #20 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. This medium-sized public school is located in Maryville, Missouri.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Northwest Missouri State University is ranked #14 for quality in the state of Missouri.
College of Saint Mary ranked #21 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. College of Saint Mary is a small private not-for-profit school located in Omaha, Nebraska.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, College of Saint Mary is ranked #5 for quality in the state of Nebraska.
University of Kansas came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in Lawrence, Kansas, the school is a large public institution.
Not only is University of Kansas a great value, but it is also ranked #2 in Kansas for overall quality.
Minnesota State University - Mankato did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #23. Minnesota State Mankato is located in Mankato, Minnesota and has a fairly large student population. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Minnesota State University - Mankato is ranked #9 for quality in the state of Minnesota.
Read full value report on Minnesota State University - Mankato
With a ranking of #24, University of Central Missouri did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region list. This fairly large public school is located in Warrensburg, Missouri.
Not only is University of Central Missouri a great value, but it is also ranked #15 in Missouri for overall quality.
Wichita State University did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in the Plains States Region ranking, coming in at #25. WSU is located in Wichita, Kansas and has a fairly large student population. It is a public school.
Wichita State University has the honor of being ranked #4 in Kansas for overall quality on top of being a good value.
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.