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Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

27 Colleges
$8,760 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,161 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree School for You

With 35,945 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, health sciences and services is the #5 most popular major in the United States.

It's not easy to decide which healthcare program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 27 schools in the Plains States Region to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for health science students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Metropolitan Community College the best value school in the Plains States Region for health sciences and services students working on their associate degree. MCC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Omaha.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at MCC are $4,680 a year.

Full Health Sciences & Services at Metropolitan Community College Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Anoka-Ramsey Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of Coon Rapids.

Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus undergraduate students pay an average of $5,515 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Health Sciences & Services at Anoka-Ramsey Community College

#3

Century College

White Bear Lake, MN

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Century College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the suburb of White Bear Lake, Century College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Century College are $5,907 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Century College also is in the top 20% of our Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking.

Read full report on Health Sciences & Services at Century College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwest Technical College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote town of Bemidji, NTC is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NTC are $6,380 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, NTC is ranked #5 for overall quality for health science in the Plains States Region .

Full Health Sciences & Services at Northwest Technical College Report

#5

North Hennepin Community College

Brooklyn Park, MN

Out of the 27 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, North Hennepin Community College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Brooklyn Park, North Hennepin Community College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

North Hennepin Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,882 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Health Sciences & Services at North Hennepin Community College Report

Rochester Community and Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for health sciences and services students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Rochester Community and Technical College is a small public school located in the city of Rochester.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Rochester Community and Technical College are $5,372 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Rochester Community and Technical College also is in the top 10% of our Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking.

Read full report on Health Sciences & Services at Rochester Community and Technical College

With a ranking of #7, Northland Community and Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for health sciences and services students working on their associate degree. Located in the remote town of Thief River Falls, Northland Community and Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northland Community and Technical College are $6,052 per year.

Full Health Sciences & Services at Northland Community and Technical College Report

#8

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN

With a ranking of #8, Saint Paul College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for health sciences and services students working on their associate degree. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Saint Paul College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Saint Paul College are $6,041 a year.

Read More…

St Cloud Technical and Community College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the city of Saint Cloud, St Cloud Technical and Community College is a public college with a small student population.

St Cloud Technical and Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,874 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, St Cloud Technical and Community College is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Health Sciences & Services at St Cloud Technical and Community College

#10

Southeast Technical College

Sioux Falls, SD

Southeast Technical College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Southeast Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Sioux Falls.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Southeast Tech are $7,650 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Southeast Tech also did well on our Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Health Sciences & Services at Southeast Technical College Report

Best Health Sciences & Services Colleges by State

Explore the best health sciences and services schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Minnesota 401
Iowa 55
Nebraska 91
Missouri 1,081
Kansas 143
South Dakota 135
North Dakota 11

Health Sciences & Services is one of 30 different types of healthcare programs to choose from.

Health Science Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences 29,840
General Health & Wellness 6,105

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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 Sandra M. Palumbo.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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