2025 Best Area Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

a master's degree in area studies is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #116 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for area studies students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 121 master's degrees in area studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on area studies students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of area studies students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt area studies students go into to obtain their master'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 area studies related body.

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

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Area Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Area Studies in the Southeast Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for area studies students seeking a a master's degree.

Top Southeast Region Schools for a Master's in Area Studies

1

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

13 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Florida if you wish to pursue a master's degree in area studies. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in area studies from University of Florida

2

Florida International University
Miami, FL

19 Annual Graduates

Florida International University is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in area studies. FIU is a very large public university located in the suburb of Miami.More information about a master’s in area studies from Florida International University

Best Area Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best area studies colleges for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	31
Georgia	190	11
Virginia	182	14
North Carolina	178	26
Tennessee	166	2
Alabama	151	7
Louisiana	147	4
Mississippi	145	10
Arkansas	121	10
West Virginia	112	0

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Area Studies

One of 2 majors within the Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies area of study, Area Studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Area Studies Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Latin American Studies	41
East Asian Studies	17
American U.S. Studies	15
Asian Studies	13
Area Studies, Other	12
Regional Studies (U.S., Canadian, Foreign)	10
Appalachian Studies	5
European Studies	3
Italian Studies	3
Near & Middle Eastern Studies	2

Majors Similar to Area Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Ethnic Studies	64

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Karl Udo Gerth. More about our data sources and methodologies.