2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k
9
Ranked Colleges
918
Degrees Awarded
$17,000
Avg Net Price*
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.
General Education is the 41st most popular major in the country with 29,810 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, general education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $48,719 and had an average of $23,394 in loans still to pay off.
Across Virginia, there were 918 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $52,474 and $25,866 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in general education. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent general education programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general education program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank General Education Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k.
Top 9 Best Value Colleges for General Education (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, this large public school handed out 159 diplomas to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Virginia, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Virginia - Main Campus is $12,476 for virginia education students whose families make $0-$30k.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.
Full University of Virginia - Main Campus General Education Report
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, James Madison University landed the #2 spot on the list. James Madison University is a large public school situated in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It awarded 295 ’s education degrees in 2020-2021.
JMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend James Madison University is $14,288 for Virginia Education students whose families make $0-$30k.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Education at James Madison University
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Richmond, Virginia, this large public school handed out 116 degrees to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
VCU also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for VCU is $14,507 for Virginia Education students whose families make $0-$30k.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about General Education at Virginia Commonwealth University
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Mary Washington landed the #4 spot on the list. This small school is located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and it awarded 75 ’s education degrees in 2020-2021.
UMW did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $14,589 for Virginia Education students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Mary Washington.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Education at University of Mary Washington
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, George Mason University landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in Fairfax, Virginia, this large public school awarded 27 degrees to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
GMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $14,781 for Virginia Education students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend George Mason University.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on General Education at George Mason University
With a ranking of #6, Radford University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. This medium-sized school is located in Radford, Virginia, and it awarded 38 ’s education degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Radford, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Radford University is $11,420 for virginia education students whose families make $0-$30k.
Full Radford University General Education Report
Longwood University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Farmville, Virginia, this small public school awarded 75 degrees to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
Longwood also made our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #8. The yearly cost to attend Longwood is $14,071 for virginia education students whose families make $0-$30k.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Longwood General Education Report
Shenandoah University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Winchester, Virginia, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 24 degrees to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
Shenandoah not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Shenandoah University is $27,173 for virginia education students whose families make $0-$30k.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Full Shenandoah University General Education Report
Liberty University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #9. Liberty University is a large school located in Lynchburg, Virginia that handed out 93 ’s education degrees in 2020-2021.
Liberty University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Liberty University is $29,786 for Virginia Education students whose families make $0-$30k.
Read more about General Education at Liberty University
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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
- *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
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