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Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

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2023 Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in Iowa

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

17 Colleges
$10,804 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,367 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Master's Degree School for You

Education is one of the most popular subjects to study in Iowa. With 1,401 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 3rd out of all the majors we track in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. This report analyzed 17 schools in Iowa to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for education 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 Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for education majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Education Master's Degree Schools

#1

Waldorf University

Forest City, IA

Our 2023 rankings named Waldorf University the best value school in Iowa for education students working on their master’s degree. Waldorf is a small private for-profit school located in the remote town of Forest City.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Waldorf are $4,835 a year.

Read More…

#2

Northwestern College

Orange City, IA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Northwestern College is a great value for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of Orange City, NWC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

NWC graduate students pay an average of $6,360 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

NWC also made our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #2.

Full Education at Northwestern College Report

#3

Simpson College

Indianola, IA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Simpson College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in Iowa. 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 in-state tuition and fees each year.

Simpson College did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

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#4

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Morningside College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Located in the city of Sioux City, Morningside is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Morningside are $6,516 per year.

Full Education at Morningside College Report

#5

Buena Vista University

Storm Lake, IA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Buena Vista University is a great value for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the remote town of Storm Lake, BVU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at BVU are $9,936 a year.

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#6

Drake University

Des Moines, IA

Drake University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Drake are $11,988 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Drake is ranked #1 for overall quality for education in Iowa.

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#7

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

With a ranking of #7, University of Northern Iowa did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNI are $10,569 per year.

UNI did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list.

Full Education at University of Northern Iowa Report

#8

Dordt University

Sioux Center, IA

Dordt University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Located in the town of Sioux Center, Dordt is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Dordt graduate students pay an average of $9,850 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Education at Dordt University Report

#9

Grand View University

Des Moines, IA

Grand View University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Grand View University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Des Moines.

Grand View University graduate students pay an average of $9,440 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Education at Grand View University Report

#10

Loras College

Dubuque, IA

With a ranking of #10, Loras College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Dubuque, Loras is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loras are $12,990 per year.

Read full report on Education at Loras College

Best Value Education Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Education Schools in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 2,994
Missouri 4,657
Minnesota 6,976
North Dakota 619
Nebraska 2,838
South Dakota 453

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Educational Administration 45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific 34,451
Special Education 25,158
General Education 21,189
Teacher Education Subject Specific 20,616
Curriculum & Instruction 19,784
Student Counseling 13,840
Instructional Media Design 8,387
Teaching English or French 4,743
Other Education 2,513
Multilingual Education 1,672
Educational Assessment 1,215
Education Philosophy 421
International Education 257
Teaching Assistants 20

Related Major Annual Graduates
Psychology 42,013
Social Sciences 22,292
Communication & Journalism 12,242
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 17 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 Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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