2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Area Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking.

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 Iowa, there were 62 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $23,250 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the area studies program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

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 in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k”.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Area Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Area Studies (Income $30-$48k) in Iowa

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$10,843 Average Net Price

$46,410 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k list. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s area studies degrees to 14 students in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also made our “Best Area Studies Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State is $10,843 for Iowa Area Studies students whose families make $30-$48k.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Area Studies at Iowa State

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$15,073 Average Net Price

$44,594 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. Iowa is a large school located in Iowa City, Iowa that handed out 38 ’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Area Studies Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $15,073 for Iowa Area Studies students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Iowa.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Iowa Area Studies Report

• Best Value Colleges for Area Studies (Income $30-$48k) in the Plains States Region
• Best Value 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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