2023 Best Value Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in Iowa
Identifying High-Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school or bootcamp to be a better alternative for you.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in Iowa ranking. Our analysis looked at 6 schools in Iowa to see which basic certificate programs offered the best value experiences for nursing students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
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.
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Top Value Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in Iowa
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Western Iowa Tech Community College to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a basic certificate in Iowa. Located in Sioux City, Iowa, the medium-sized public school handed out 297 basic certificate awards in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Western Iowa Tech Community College are $4,826 a year.
Western Iowa Tech Community College does have options available for those who want to take online classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 53% of undergraduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Western Iowa Tech Community College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in Iowa list.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Des Moines Area Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in Iowa list. DMACC is a large public school situated in Ankeny, Iowa. It awarded 315 basic certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at DMACC are $10,440 a year.
DMACC does have options available for those who want to take online classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. Of all the undergraduates enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 63% took at least some of their classes online.
DMACC did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in Iowa list.
The excellent basic certificate programs at North Iowa Area Community College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in Iowa. Located in Mason City, Iowa, the small public school awarded 113 diplomas to qualifed basic certificate students in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at North Iowa Area Community College are $8,547 a year.
North Iowa Area Community College is one of the schools on our list that is primarily online. Each undergraduate student at the school took at least one class online.
North Iowa Area Community College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in Iowa list.
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Iowa Central Community College is a great place for nursing students working on their basic certificate who want the most bang for their educational buck. Iowa Central Community College is a public institution located in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 133 basic certificates in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Iowa Central Community College are $8,650 per year.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Iowa Central Community College does offer online classes for certain majors. In fact, around 33% of the undergraduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Iowa Central Community College is ranked #4 for overall quality in Iowa.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Southeastern Community College is a great place for nursing students working on their basic certificate who want the most bang for their educational buck. Southeastern Community College is located in West Burlington, Iowa and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 91 basic certificates to qualified students.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Southeastern Community College are $6,240 a year.
You may have the opportunity to take online classes at Southeastern Community College. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 49% of undergraduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Southeastern Community College is ranked #5 for overall quality in Iowa.
With a ranking of #6, Iowa Western Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their basic certificate. Council Bluffs, Iowa is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out basic certificates to 41 students in 2020-2021.
Iowa Western Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,480 in tuition and fees each year.
One thing to take note of is that Iowa Western Community College does offer online classes in some areas. In fact, around 75% of the undergraduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Best Value Nursing Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 6 schools only.
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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