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. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our Top Nebraska Colleges ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
After analyzing 19 schools in Nebraska, we came up with our list of those that offered the highest quality education. To come up with this ranking, we look at more than 20 factors that are all objective measurements. These factors include freshman retention, graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio, and post graduate earnings, among other things.
We've developed a number of other tools and rankings to help you make your college decision. Start by filtering this list by location or field of study and then explore our other rankings that feature schools great for different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
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. If you're torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Creighton University to be the best school for overall quality in Nebraska in this year’s ranking.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $73,911 during the early years of their career..
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Nebraska - Lincoln helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Nebraska.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from UNL is $56,887 during the early years of their career.
Out of the 19 schools in Nebraska that were part of this year’s ranking, Bellevue University landed the #3 spot on the list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Bellevue University go into careers with an average salary of $61,289 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #4 on our Best Colleges in Nebraska list means College of Saint Mary is a great place for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
The student-to-faculty rate of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. During the early years of their career, graduates from Saint Mary make an average of $54,338 a year.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Metropolitan Community College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Nebraska.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from MCC go into careers with an average salary of $38,773 during the early years of their career.
Southeast Community College Area did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking, coming in at #6.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Southeast Community College go into careers with an average salary of $43,405 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #7, University of Nebraska at Omaha did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska list.
The low student loan default rate of 1.0% 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% During the early years of their career, graduates from UNOMAHA make an average of $53,909 a year.
Concordia University, Nebraska landed the #8 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Concordia University, Nebraska make an average of $52,415 per year during the early years of their career.
Wayne State College landed the #9 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $47,075 during the early years of their career..
Northeast Community College did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking, coming in at #10.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Northeast make an average of $42,634 per year during the early years of their career.
University of Nebraska at Kearney came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from UNK is $50,105 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #12, Central Community College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Central Community College make an average of $39,429 per year during the early years of their career.
Nebraska Wesleyan University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Colleges in Nebraska list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from NWU is $56,405 during the early years of their career.
Midland University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking, coming in at #14.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Midland U is $52,163 during the early years of their career.
Mid-Plains Community College came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Mid-Plains Community College go into careers with an average salary of $40,059 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #16, Chadron State College did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska list.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Chadron State College make an average of $47,002 a year.
With a ranking of #17, Union College Nebraska did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska list.
Since the school has a student-to-faculty rate of 8 to 1, those pursuing a bachelor’s degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Union College make an average of $55,045 per year during the early years of their career.
Peru State College did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking, coming in at #18.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Peru State is $47,071 during the early years of their career.
Doane University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in Nebraska ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Doane Crete is $53,316 during the early years of their career.
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 19 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.