2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k” 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 Maryland, there were 151 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,500 and $22,237 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the area studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Area Studies Schools in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k

The colleges and universities below are the best for maryland area studies students whose families make $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Area Studies (Income $75-$110k) in Maryland

#1

University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, Maryland

#1 in overall quality

$22,710 Average Net Price

$48,842 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Maryland - College Park. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k. UMCP is a public institution located in College Park, Maryland. The school has a large population, and it awarded 50 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UMCP did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Area Studies Schools in Maryland” list. It costs about $22,710 for Maryland Area Studies students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend UMCP.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of Maryland - College Park

#2

Towson University

Towson, Maryland

#3 in overall quality

$22,972 Average Net Price

$43,925 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Towson University landed the #2 spot on the list. Towson is a public institution located in Towson, Maryland. The school has a large population, and it awarded 12 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Towson did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Area Studies Schools in Maryland” list. It costs about $22,972 for Maryland Area Studies students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Towson University.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Towson Area Studies Report

#3

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Baltimore, Maryland

#4 in overall quality

$23,922 Average Net Price

$46,475 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 in Maryland For Those Making $75-$110k. UMBC is a fairly large school located in Baltimore, Maryland that handed out 19 ’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UMBC also made our “Best Area Studies Schools in Maryland” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $23,922 for Maryland Area Studies students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend UMBC.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at UMBC

• Best Value Colleges for Area Studies (Income $75-$110k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Area Studies (Income $75-$110k)

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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