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Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

9 Colleges
$20,468 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$76,049 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Information Technology Graduate Certificate School for You

With 40,555 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, information technology is the #3 most popular major in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which computer science program is right for you. 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Computer Science Degree Search has created its Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. This report analyzed 9 schools in the Plains States Region to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for IT 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Best Plains States Region Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Information Technology

Our 2023 rankings named Minnesota State University - Mankato the best value school in the Plains States Region for information technology students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,308 per year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Minnesota State University - Mankato

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Metropolitan State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Metro State is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Metro State are $10,237 per year.

Full Information Technology at Metropolitan State University Report

Out of the 9 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, North Dakota State University - Main Campus landed the # 3 spot on the list. North Dakota State University is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Fargo.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at North Dakota State University are $12,028 per year.

Full Information Technology at North Dakota State University - Main Campus Report

#4

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN

Out of the 9 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Capella University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Capella University is a very large private for-profit school located in the city of Minneapolis.

Capella University graduate students pay an average of $14,784 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Capella University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Nebraska at Omaha. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Omaha, UNOMAHA is a public college with a large student population.

UNOMAHA graduate students pay an average of $16,374 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Information Technology at University of Nebraska at Omaha

Iowa State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate information technology programs. Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Iowa State graduate students pay an average of $26,948 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Information Technology at Iowa State University Report

With a ranking of #8, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for information technology students working on their graduate certificate. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saint Louis.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WUSTL are $58,288 a year.

WUSTL not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read More…

University of Missouri - St Louis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information technology students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, UMSL is a public college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UMSL are $30,756 per year.

Full Information Technology at University of Missouri - St Louis Report

Best Information Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best information technology schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 147
Minnesota 843
Missouri 266
Iowa 182
South Dakota 190
North Dakota 37
Nebraska 398

One of 10 majors within the computer science area of study, information technology has other similar majors worth exploring.

IT Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Computer & IS Security 22,829
Network & System Administration/Administrator 5,501
Information Technology Management 4,009
Computer Support Specialist 3,176
System, Networking, & LAN/WAN Management/Manager 2,077
Information Technology Project Management 2,076
Web/Multimedia Management & Webmaster 887

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 88,434
Computer Science 59,565
Information Science 18,325
Computer Systems Networking 14,700
Computer Software & Applications 14,336

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 9 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 Craig Dennis.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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