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Best Value General Education Schools in Minnesota

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2023 Best Value General Education Schools in Minnesota

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

17 Colleges
$26,004 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$50,511 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education School for You

General Education is one of the most popular subjects to study in Minnesota. With 2,028 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 2nd out of all the majors we track in the state.

Today's teaching students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Teaching Degree Search has developed this Best Value General Education Schools in Minnesota ranking. Our analysis looked at 17 schools in Minnesota to see which programs offered the best value experiences for education students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 General Education Schools in Minnesota

The following schools top our list of the Best Value General Education Colleges.

Top 10 Best General Education Schools

#1

Martin Luther College

New Ulm, MN
$16,910 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Martin Luther College to be the best value school for general education students who want to pursue a degree in Minnesota. MLC is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the town of New Ulm.

MLC undergraduate students pay an average of $16,910 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on General Education at Martin Luther College

$10,184 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Winona State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Schools in Minnesota list. Located in the distant town of Winona, Winona State is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Winona State are $10,184 per year.

Winona State also took the #3 spot in our Best General Education Schools in Minnesota rankings.

Full General Education at Winona State University Report

$34,180 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 17 schools in Minnesota that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northwestern - St Paul landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Saint Paul, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northwestern are $34,180 a year.

Full General Education at University of Northwestern - St Paul Report

$9,482 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Southwest Minnesota State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best general education schools in Minnesota. Southwest Minnesota State University is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Marshall.

Southwest Minnesota State University undergraduate students pay an average of $9,482 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full General Education at Southwest Minnesota State University Report

$9,806 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Bemidji State University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools in Minnesota list. Located in the remote town of Bemidji, Bemidji State University is a public college with a small student population.

Bemidji State University undergraduate students pay an average of $9,806 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

$39,410 Average Tuition & Fees

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general education programs. SMU MN is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Winona.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SMU MN are $39,410 a year.

Full General Education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Report

$9,146 Average Tuition & Fees

Minnesota State University - Mankato landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general education programs. Located in the small city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,146 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Minnesota State Mankato is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best General Education Schools in Minnesota list.

Full General Education at Minnesota State University - Mankato Report

#9

Bethel University Minnesota

Saint Paul, MN
$40,080 Average Tuition & Fees

Bethel University Minnesota did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for general education students. It came in at #9 on the list. Bethel University Minnesota is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saint Paul.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Bethel University Minnesota are $40,080 per year.

Read More…

#10

Hamline University

Saint Paul, MN
$46,221 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, Hamline University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general education students. Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Paul.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Hamline are $46,221 per year. On average, education graduates from Hamline take out $24,810 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full General Education at Hamline University Report

Best Value General Education Colleges in the Plains States Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Missouri 493
Kansas 373
Iowa 226
South Dakota 88
North Dakota 24
Nebraska 59

General Education is one of 14 different types of teaching programs to choose from.

Education Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Education 29,810

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832

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 KOKUYO.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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