2022 Best Value Area Studies 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. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 6,820 people earned their degree in area studies, making the major the 106th most popular in the United States. 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 Iowa, there were 62 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $23,250 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 46 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in area studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality area studies programs that also have a lower cost than 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Area Studies 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 area studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$10,054 Average Net Price

$31,670 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Iowa State University is a public institution located in Ames, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 14 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State University is $10,054 for iowa bachelor’s degree area studies 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%.

Full Iowa State Area Studies Report

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$12,975 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Iowa. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Iowa City, Iowa, this large public school handed out 22 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s area studies students in 2019-2020.

Iowa also made our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend Iowa is $12,975 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.5% 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 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Area Studies at University of Iowa

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