Best Colleges in the Great Plains

Best Colleges in the Great Plains, ranked by median 10-year earnings. Region: Census West North Central division. Included states / district: IA KS MN MO NE ND SD. Median earnings of federally aided former students who are working and not enrolled, 10 years after entry; includes students who did not graduate. “Best” on this page means highest reported earnings, not an overall quality score. Four-year colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online-only schools are excluded. This page lists all 114 colleges in the ranking. Search and filter the list.

1Washington University in St LouisSt. Louis, Missouri12%1530$22k$86k94%7,857258 mi 2Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, Missouri73%1317$16k$83k64%5,521344 mi 3Saint Johns UniversityCollegeville, Minnesota91%1183$26k$77k75%1,395136 mi 4Carleton CollegeNorthfield, Minnesota20%1517$25k$76k90%2,086164 mi 5Creighton UniversityOmaha, Nebraska80%1321$32k$74k83%4,348424 mi 6University of St ThomasSaint Paul, Minnesota85%1296$29k$74k76%6,245134 mi 7South Dakota School of Mines and TechnologyRapid City, South Dakota80%1245$20k$72k53%2,071569 mi 8Drake UniversityDes Moines, Iowa64%1292$29k$72k74%2,543303 mi 9Saint Louis UniversitySaint Louis, Missouri75%1317$24k$71k80%7,267256 mi 10University of Minnesota-Twin CitiesMinneapolis, Minnesota80%1362$17k$69k85%31,855134 mi 11Rockhurst UniversityKansas City, Missouri70%1120$26k$67k75%1,580414 mi 12The College of Saint ScholasticaDuluth, Minnesota93%1120$28k$66k71%1,7651 mi 13Gustavus Adolphus CollegeSaint Peter, Minnesota61%1290$23k$66k77%1,878190 mi 14St Olaf CollegeNorthfield, Minnesota48%1380$24k$66k84%3,093165 mi 15University of IowaIowa City, Iowa84%1200$23k$65k75%22,264195 mi 16Metropolitan State UniversitySaint Paul, Minnesota99%1020$17k$65k44%5,616131 mi 17Macalester CollegeSaint Paul, Minnesota29%1440$32k$64k87%2,131134 mi 18Baker UniversityBaldwin City, Kansas94%—$25k$64k58%1,100452 mi 19Bethel UniversitySaint Paul, Minnesota88%1249$29k$64k71%1,871127 mi 20University of North DakotaGrand Forks, North Dakota77%—$19k$64k60%9,981245 mi 21University of Missouri-ColumbiaColumbia, Missouri78%1247$20k$63k75%23,929318 mi 22Iowa State UniversityAmes, Iowa89%1204$19k$63k75%25,367299 mi 23College of Saint BenedictSaint Joseph, Minnesota92%1151$27k$63k77%1,370134 mi 24Grinnell CollegeGrinnell, Iowa15%1486$18k$63k88%1,729254 mi 25University of Minnesota-DuluthDuluth, Minnesota89%1251$19k$63k65%7,336< 1 mi 26North Dakota State University-Main CampusFargo, North Dakota95%1150$16k$62k64%9,471222 mi 27Maryville University of Saint LouisSaint Louis, Missouri95%—$22k$62k66%5,658264 mi 28University of KansasLawrence, Kansas93%1190$18k$62k69%21,217448 mi 29Bellevue UniversityBellevue, Nebraska——$18k$61k33%10,220425 mi 30Hamline UniversitySaint Paul, Minnesota88%1160$21k$61k60%1,776132 mi 31University of MaryBismarck, North Dakota75%1159$18k$61k67%2,416409 mi 32Mount Mercy UniversityCedar Rapids, Iowa83%—$20k$61k58%1,107197 mi 33Concordia University-Saint PaulSaint Paul, Minnesota79%—$18k$60k46%3,018133 mi 34Luther CollegeDecorah, Iowa72%1218$23k$60k71%1,379196 mi 35University of Missouri-Kansas CityKansas City, Missouri72%1204$13k$60k55%6,817415 mi 36Saint Ambrose UniversityDavenport, Iowa77%1093$25k$60k61%1,916150 mi 37Concordia College at MoorheadMoorhead, Minnesota63%1190$25k$59k61%1,829220 mi 38St Catherine UniversitySaint Paul, Minnesota92%1147$20k$59k61%2,473135 mi 39Simpson CollegeIndianola, Iowa86%1440$22k$59k63%1,227302 mi 40Augustana UniversitySioux Falls, South Dakota68%1195$24k$59k73%1,965317 mi 41Augsburg UniversityMinneapolis, Minnesota82%—$24k$59k52%2,494134 mi 42Winona State UniversityWinona, Minnesota75%—$18k$59k57%5,144180 mi 43Loras CollegeDubuque, Iowa100%—$21k$58k68%1,083145 mi 44Saint Mary's University of MinnesotaWinona, Minnesota93%—$12k$58k66%1,073180 mi 45University of Minnesota-CrookstonCrookston, Minnesota88%—$12k$58k50%1,729222 mi 46Kansas State UniversityManhattan, Kansas82%1151$19k$57k71%15,142505 mi 47Coe CollegeCedar Rapids, Iowa64%1223$19k$57k66%1,164198 mi 48Minnesota State University-MankatoMankato, Minnesota88%1150$19k$57k54%11,703201 mi 49University of Nebraska-LincolnLincoln, Nebraska87%1191$18k$57k67%19,178469 mi 50University of JamestownJamestown, North Dakota88%—$20k$57k49%1,041311 mi 51Nebraska Wesleyan UniversityLincoln, Nebraska80%1189$18k$56k66%1,453466 mi 52Park UniversityParkville, Missouri——$21k$56k38%4,555414 mi 53Truman State UniversityKirksville, Missouri84%1320$13k$56k69%2,513283 mi 54Wartburg CollegeWaverly, Iowa76%1136$33k$56k64%1,452233 mi 55Saint Cloud State UniversitySaint Cloud, Minnesota95%1092$14k$56k40%5,088129 mi 56Morningside UniversitySioux City, Iowa71%—$31k$55k50%1,163362 mi 57University of Northern IowaCedar Falls, Iowa93%1122$16k$55k68%7,529234 mi 58South Dakota State UniversityBrookings, South Dakota98%1120$20k$55k62%9,198282 mi 59University of Sioux FallsSioux Falls, South Dakota83%—$21k$55k63%1,218317 mi 60Central CollegePella, Iowa86%1147$23k$54k66%1,070269 mi 61University of Nebraska at OmahaOmaha, Nebraska87%1120$13k$54k47%11,488425 mi 62Bemidji State UniversityBemidji, Minnesota56%1090$15k$54k48%3,139139 mi 63Cornell CollegeMount Vernon, Iowa80%1234$24k$53k62%1,086186 mi 64Lindenwood UniversitySaint Charles, Missouri57%1190$20k$53k49%4,624256 mi 65Benedictine CollegeAtchison, Kansas98%1252$28k$53k62%2,272423 mi 66University of Missouri-St LouisSaint Louis, Missouri63%1199$15k$53k57%5,024254 mi 67Grand View UniversityDes Moines, Iowa99%—$22k$53k54%1,486300 mi 68Avila UniversityKansas City, Missouri88%972$16k$53k52%1,312419 mi 69Upper Iowa UniversityFayette, Iowa96%1090$21k$53k34%1,994198 mi 70Dordt UniversitySioux Center, Iowa68%1221$26k$53k70%1,597322 mi 71Concordia University-NebraskaSeward, Nebraska86%—$24k$52k65%1,283473 mi 72Midland UniversityFremont, Nebraska66%1086$26k$52k42%1,159426 mi 73Friends UniversityWichita, Kansas55%1080$28k$52k43%1,048564 mi 74University of South DakotaVermillion, South Dakota99%1125$20k$52k60%5,439362 mi 75Minot State UniversityMinot, North Dakota65%1051$13k$52k45%2,062440 mi 76Wichita State UniversityWichita, Kansas94%1092$13k$52k51%10,780565 mi 77Southwest Minnesota State UniversityMarshall, Minnesota62%1050$15k$51k45%2,315238 mi 78University of DubuqueDubuque, Iowa89%1110$23k$51k40%1,440146 mi 79Waldorf UniversityForest City, Iowa77%—$20k$51k21%1,827251 mi 80Dakota State UniversityMadison, South Dakota88%1215$21k$51k51%2,071308 mi 81Webster UniversitySaint Louis, Missouri86%1102$27k$51k64%2,304262 mi 82University of Northwestern-St PaulSaint Paul, Minnesota93%1173$28k$51k68%1,442128 mi 83Dickinson State UniversityDickinson, North Dakota37%—$14k$51k51%1,090505 mi 84Pittsburg State UniversityPittsburg, Kansas89%1050$16k$51k57%4,210486 mi 85Minnesota State University MoorheadMoorhead, Minnesota59%1090$18k$51k57%3,072220 mi 86University of Nebraska at KearneyKearney, Nebraska89%1118$16k$50k58%4,088544 mi 87Missouri State University-SpringfieldSpringfield, Missouri91%1122$18k$50k58%13,313438 mi 88Northwestern CollegeOrange City, Iowa80%—$26k$50k66%1,175323 mi 89Washburn UniversityTopeka, Kansas——$15k$50k53%4,562468 mi 90University of Central MissouriWarrensburg, Missouri64%1050$14k$50k54%5,648386 mi 91Buena Vista UniversityStorm Lake, Iowa78%1120$19k$49k62%1,366322 mi 92Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended StudiesFayette, Missouri88%1120$15k$49k0%2,092324 mi 93Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and SciencesFayette, Missouri57%1048$23k$49k51%1,040324 mi 94William Penn UniversityOskaloosa, Iowa52%984$23k$49k33%1,301257 mi 95Fort Hays State UniversityHays, Kansas90%1089$13k$49k48%9,733648 mi 96Northwest Missouri State UniversityMaryville, Missouri86%1119$16k$48k54%4,378389 mi

US Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS. Missing or suppressed values are excluded. A ranking is a comparison of the named measure, not an overall quality score.