Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

4 Ranked Colleges
270 Degrees Awarded
$18,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor's in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 14,528 people earned their degree in journalism, making the major the 62nd most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,042 and had an average of $24,628 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 331 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,175 and $20,697 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 270 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in journalism. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality journalism programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the journalism program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for iowa bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Iowa State is located in Ames, Iowa and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 77 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.

Iowa State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State University is $10,054 for iowa bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Read full report on Journalism at Iowa State University

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Iowa is a public institution located in Iowa City, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 146 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa also took the #1 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa is $12,975 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Journalism at Iowa

#3

Drake University

Des Moines, Iowa

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Drake University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Des Moines, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 31 students in 2019-2020.

Drake also took the #2 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Drake is $25,212 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $0-$30k.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Drake Journalism Report

#4

Saint Ambrose University

Davenport, Iowa
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Ambrose University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k list. Saint Ambrose University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Davenport, Iowa. It awarded 4 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

St. Ambrose University also took the #4 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $23,977 for iowa bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Saint Ambrose University.

Read more about Journalism at Saint Ambrose University

Notes and References

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%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Jfurrer.

Featured Communications / Public Relations Schools

Find Schools Near You