2025 Best Medicine Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Ranked #2 in popularity, medicine is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 11 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for medicine students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 2,551 doctor's degrees in medicine to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Medicine School for Your Doctor's Degree

The medicine doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality medicine program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on medicine students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other medicine students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt medicine students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized medicine related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for medicine students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Medicine Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Medicine Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Medicine in the Plains States Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for medicine students seeking a a doctor's degree.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Doctorate in Medicine

1

Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
Rochester, MN

113 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Mayo Clinic School of Medicine if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in medicine. Located in the midsize city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine

2

Creighton University
Omaha, NE

166 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in medicine needs to look into Creighton University. Located in the large city of Omaha, Creighton is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from Creighton University

3

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

220 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in medicine needs to look into University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the city of Minneapolis.More information about a doctorate in medicine from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

4

Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO

180 Annual Graduates

Saint Louis University is a good option for students interested in a doctor's degree in medicine. Located in the large city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from Saint Louis University

5

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

151 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from University of Iowa

6

University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE

117 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Omaha, UNMC is a public university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from University of Nebraska Medical Center

7

University of Missouri - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO

112 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Kansas City, UMKC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from University of Missouri - Kansas City

8

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

203 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from University of Kansas

9

University of South Dakota
Vermillion, SD

61 Annual Graduates

USD is a moderately-sized public university located in the distant town of Vermillion.More information about a doctorate in medicine from University of South Dakota

10

University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO

110 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in medicine from University of Missouri - Columbia

Best Medicine Colleges by State

Explore the best medicine schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	122	1,012
Minnesota	120	341
Iowa	110	399
Kansas	97	214
Nebraska	70	287
North Dakota	68	3
South Dakota	45	66

View All Rankings >

Medicine Related Rankings by Major

Medicine is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Medicine Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Medicine	1,613
Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy	888
Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry	50

Most Popular Majors Related to Medicine

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	1,996
Nursing	1,704
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	1,069
Chiropractic	1,035
Dentistry	618
Public Health	225
Allied Health Professions	120
Communication Sciences	114
Health Sciences & Services	95
Health & Medical Administrative Services	75

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.