2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Area Studies is the 106th most popular major in the country with 6,820 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, area studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $33,734 and had an average of $23,024 in loans still to pay off.

Across Maryland, there were 151 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,500 and $22,237 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 117 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,371 and $23,982 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in area studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great area studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the area studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Maryland

#1

University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, Maryland

#1 in overall quality

$8,054 Average Net Price

$41,565 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Maryland - College Park landed the #1 spot on the list. UMCP is located in College Park, Maryland and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 25 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

UMCP not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Maryland” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Maryland - College Park is $8,054 for maryland bachelor’s degree area studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at UMCP

#2

Towson University

Towson, Maryland

#3 in overall quality

$9,206 Average Net Price

$46,790 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Towson University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k. Towson University is a large public school situated in Towson, Maryland. It awarded 12 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

Towson also took the #3 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Maryland” ranking. It costs about $9,206 for maryland bachelor’s degree area studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Towson.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Towson Area Studies Report

#3

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Baltimore, Maryland

#4 in overall quality

$10,820 Average Net Price

$28,236 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Maryland - Baltimore County. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k. This fairly large school is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and it awarded 18 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UMBC also took the #4 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Maryland” ranking. It costs about $10,820 for Maryland Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UMBC.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of Maryland - Baltimore County

#4

University of Maryland Global Campus

Adelphi, Maryland

#2 in overall quality

$14,288 Average Net Price

$55,964 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Maryland Global Campus. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k. UMGC is a large school located in Adelphi, Maryland that handed out 38 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our maryland bachelor’s degree area studies students whose families make $0-$30k list, UMGC has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Maryland” ranking. It costs about $14,288 for Maryland Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UMGC.

Full UMGC Area Studies Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $0-$30k)

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 Karl Udo Gerth.

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