Area Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #116 most popular master's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Area Studies Master's Degree Schools in New York ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 172 master's degrees in area studies to qualified students.
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To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 full 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.
The area studies school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Area Studies Master's Degree Schools in New York.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Area Studies in New York
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in area studies.
Top New York Schools for a Master's in Area Studies
Columbia University in the City of New York is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in area studies. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Soon after graduation, area studies master's recipients typically make around $42,327 in the first five years of their career.
Every student who is interested in a master's degree in area studies has to look into New York University. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the area studies program at New York University earn $4,453 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
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).
