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Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

21 Colleges
$21,507 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$65,430 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, 60,971 computer and information sciences students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #5 most popular in the country.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. This report analyzed 21 schools in the Plains States Region to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for computer and information sciences students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for computer and information sciences majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Top 10 Best Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Simpson College

Indianola, IA

Our 2023 rankings named Simpson College the best value school in the Plains States Region for computer and information sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the fringe town of Indianola, Simpson College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Simpson College graduate students pay an average of $6,606 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Computer & Information Sciences at Simpson College Report

#2

Park University

Parkville, MO

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Park University is a great value for computer and information sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Park University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Parkville.

Park University graduate students pay an average of $6,435 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Computer & Information Sciences at Park University Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Minnesota State University - Mankato is a great value for computer and information sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Minnesota State Mankato is a large public school located in the small city of Mankato.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,308 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Minnesota State Mankato is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Computer & Information Sciences at Minnesota State University - Mankato

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value computer and information sciences schools in the Plains States Region . Located in the distant town of Winona, SMU MN is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

SMU MN graduate students pay an average of $10,890 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Computer & Information Sciences at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

#5

Dakota State University

Madison, SD

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Dakota State University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the town of Madison, Dakota State is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Dakota State are $11,931 per year.

Full Computer & Information Sciences at Dakota State University Report

Metropolitan State University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Metro State is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of Saint Paul.

Metro State graduate students pay an average of $10,237 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Computer & Information Sciences at Metropolitan State University Report

North Dakota State University - Main Campus came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at North Dakota State University are $12,028 a year.

Full Computer & Information Sciences at North Dakota State University - Main Campus Report

University of St Thomas Minnesota came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UST MN are $23,736 a year.

UST MN did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Computer & Information Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read More…

#10

Saint Louis University

Saint Louis, MO

With a ranking of #10, Saint Louis University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for computer and information sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SLU are $22,614 per year.

Read full report on Computer & Information Sciences at Saint Louis University

Best Computer & Information Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best computer and information sciences schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 173
Missouri 1,402
Minnesota 940
Iowa 542
North Dakota 48
Nebraska 314
South Dakota 143

Computer & Information Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 20,748
Computer Science 15,813
Information Technology 10,754
Information Science 6,934
Computer Software & Applications 4,047
Computer Systems Analysis 817
Computer Systems Networking 720
Computer Programming 490
Other Computer & Information Sciences 443
Data Processing 205

Related Major Annual Graduates
Engineering 61,791
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 28,851
Mathematics & Statistics 15,127
Physical Sciences 12,705
Engineering Technologies 7,672

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 21 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Almonroth.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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