2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking.

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 the Southwest region, there were 301 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,500 and $25,548 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking looked at 4 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.

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.

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 in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k

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

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Area Studies (Income $75-$110k) in the Southwest Region

#1

The University of Texas at Austin

Austin, Texas

#1 in overall quality

$20,454 Average Net Price

$49,643 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Texas at Austin. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k. UT Austin is located in Austin, Texas and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 93 ’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

UT Austin also took the #1 spot in our “Best Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UT Austin is $20,454 for Southwest Region Area Studies students whose families make $75-$110k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, 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 97%.

Read full report on Area Studies at UT Austin

#2

Arizona State University - Tempe

Tempe, Arizona

#2 in overall quality

$17,373 Average Net Price

$46,397 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Arizona State University - Tempe. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k. ASU - Tempe is a large school located in Tempe, Arizona that handed out 26 ’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

ASU - Tempe not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $17,373 for southwest region area studies students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend ASU - Tempe.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Area Studies at ASU - Tempe

#3

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

#3 in overall quality

$20,200 Average Net Price

$44,160 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Arizona. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. University of Arizona is a public institution located in Tucson, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 61 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region area studies students whose families make $75-$110k list, University of Arizona has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $20,200 for southwest region area studies students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend University of Arizona.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of Arizona

#4

University of New Mexico - Main Campus

Albuquerque, New Mexico

#4 in overall quality

$18,920 Average Net Price

$41,938 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of New Mexico - Main Campus. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. This large school is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it awarded 32 ’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UNM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $18,920 for southwest region area studies students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend University of New Mexico - Main Campus.

Read more about Area Studies at University of New Mexico - Main Campus

• 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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