2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $30-$48k) in District of Columbia

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 District of Columbia, there were 221 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $46,900 and $40,178 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 72 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $44,446 and $25,767 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in area studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent area studies programs, but they also 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. 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 District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

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 Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $30-$48k) in District of Columbia

#1

Georgetown University

Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$8,678 Average Net Price

$46,087 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Georgetown University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k list. Georgetown University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 25 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Georgetown, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Georgetown is $8,678 for district of columbia bachelor’s degree area studies students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.0% 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 Area Studies at Georgetown

#2

George Washington University

Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$17,924 Average Net Price

$38,289 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #2 spot on the list. GWU is a large school located in Washington, District of Columbia that handed out 29 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

GWU also made our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend GWU is $17,924 for District of Columbia Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Area Studies at George Washington University

#3

American University

Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$22,578 Average Net Price

$39,648 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, American University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 18 degrees to qualified bachelors’s area studies students in 2019-2020.

The American University also took the #3 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend American University is $22,578 for District of Columbia Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Area Studies at American University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $30-$48k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $30-$48k)

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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