Lowest In-State Tuition for a Bachelor’s
$8,702 in annual undergraduate tuition and required fees for state residents (2024–25), the lowest among the 3 bachelor’s programs shown here.
Program Rankings
Ranked lists for every field and degree level, scored within that field and level.
All Program RankingsDegrees for Working Adults
Most Affordable Degrees
Online Degrees
Careers
What the work involves, what it pays, and the education each job usually asks for.
All Career GuidesBachelor’s Entry Routes
Graduate Study Routes
Compare Majors
Courses, research methods, and career routes, side by side before you choose a major.
Compare All MajorsHead-to-Head Comparisons
Explore a Field
Browse by State
State lists by subject and degree level, ordered by the national comparison score.
Browse All StatesPrograms by State
North Dakota has three ranked sociology programs, and all three are public universities: the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota State University in Fargo, and Minot State University. The University of North Dakota ranks first for the bachelor’s degree.

3 schools in North Dakota awarded sociology bachelor’s degrees in 2023–24, scored against 843 bachelor’s programs nationwide.
Sociology BA
UND builds its sociology degree on a core in theory, research methods and statistics, then ends it with a capstone course where you show what you can do. Electives lean toward deviance, family, gender, health and aging. The program is a 120-credit major designed for four years, and it points you toward the Alpha Kappa Delta sociology honor society, presenting research at local and regional conferences, and internships and research with faculty. UND awarded 16 sociology bachelor’s degrees in 2023–24, and the program holds the top spot on the North Dakota page.
Program Sources: Sociology Degree | University of North Dakota
Sociology
Internships carry much of the practical weight in NDSU’s sociology degree. Placements are available at agencies across North Dakota and Minnesota and can be completed at any time of the calendar year, and students have interned in human and social services, volunteer agencies, community development, and business and industry. The faculty’s areas include social inequality, community development, gender studies and applied sociology. High-achieving students can also earn the bachelor’s and a Master of Public Health in about five years through an accelerated option. NDSU awarded 7 sociology bachelor’s degrees in 2023–24.
Program Sources: Sociology | North Dakota State University
Sociology (BA)
Minot State organizes sociology around three foundations: social problems, research methods and theory. From there you can follow the topics the department highlights, including gender, deviance and social movements. The program sits in the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Interdisciplinary Studies, and it is taught on campus. The university frames the major around skills you can carry into several fields: critical thinking, research and data analysis. Those skills point toward work in law, market analysis, management, human resources, corrections and health services, or toward graduate study in law, political science and research.
Program Sources: Sociology (BA) | Minot State University
Each program gets the same comparison score it earns in our national sociology model, calculated against the nationwide group that meets the numeric and directory criteria. We then order North Dakota’s eligible programs by that score within each degree level. This page features up to 10 programs, taking the next highest-ranked program from each degree-level list in turn. Scores are compared only within the same degree level. Bachelor’s lists weigh graduation rate (20%), published tuition (20%), graduate earnings (20%), program reputation (25%), and degrees awarded (15%). Methodology and data sources.
These picks compare only the programs featured in the lists above.
$8,702 in annual undergraduate tuition and required fees for state residents (2024–25), the lowest among the 3 bachelor’s programs shown here.
16 sociology bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2023–24, the most of any school on this list.
64% of first-time, full-time students at the school finished a bachelor’s within six years. This is a schoolwide rate, not a sociology-only rate.
The two top-ranked schools charge almost the same. Schoolwide tuition and required fees for state residents in 2024–25 were $10,951 at the University of North Dakota and $10,910 at North Dakota State University. They differ more on output. In 2023–24 the University of North Dakota awarded 16 sociology bachelor’s degrees, North Dakota State awarded 7, and Minot State University awarded 1. Minot State lists the lowest tuition and fees at $8,702 and charges out-of-state students the same amount. Its schoolwide six-year graduation rate is 45%, compared with 61% and 64% at the other two.
These are BLS median annual wages for North Dakota and the United States from the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. A median is the midpoint among workers in the occupation, from new hires to senior staff, so it is not a starting salary for a new graduate. The 10th–90th percentile range shows what the middle 80% of workers earn in the state.
| Occupation | North Dakota Median | North Dakota 10th–90th Percentile | U.S. Median | North Dakota Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists | $61,580 | $39,480–$102,950 | $78,760 | 1,550 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Wage data does not enter the program scores.
3 schools in North Dakota appear in the lists shown here (3 bachelor’s programs). A school can appear at more than one degree level. The degree counts come from federal IPEDS completions for 2023–24.
Minot State University lists $8,702 in annual undergraduate tuition and required fees for state residents in 2024–25, the lowest among the bachelor’s programs shown here. That is a schoolwide figure before aid, so check the program’s own costs and any fees for fieldwork or labs.
Minot State University lists $8,702 in annual tuition and required fees for 2024–25, the lowest of the three bachelor’s schools, and charges out-of-state students the same rate. The figure is schoolwide, not a sociology program price. North Dakota State University lists $10,910 for residents and the University of North Dakota $10,951.
Minot State University in Minot has the lowest resident tuition and required fees among the ranked sociology bachelor’s programs: $8,702 for 2024–25. Those are schoolwide undergraduate charges. Compare your aid offer and housing costs before deciding which school fits your budget.