2023 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in the Plains States Region
4
Ranked Colleges
10
Degrees Awarded
$34,100
Avg Cost*

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region” ranking - to help you make that decision.
Area Studies is the 115th most popular major in the country with 6,257 degrees awarded in 2021-2022. In , area studies graduates who were awarded their degree in , earned an average of $33,127 and had an average of $22,500 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Plains States region, there were 247 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,952 and $23,000 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 10 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $76,238 and $112,293 respectively.
For this year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in area studies. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their area studies program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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 “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region”.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons 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.
Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region
The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region doctor’s degree area studies students.
Top 4 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in the Plains States Region
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Louis University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region list. Saint Louis, Missouri is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s area studies degrees to 2 students in 2021-2022.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.
Read full report on Area Studies at SLU
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region list. UMN Twin Cities is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and, has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s area studies degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%.
Read more about Area Studies at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Iowa. The school came in at #3 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region. Located in Iowa City, Iowa, this large public school awarded 14 degrees to qualified doctorate’s area studies students in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%.
Read more about Area Studies at Iowa
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Kansas. The school came in at #4 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Area Studies Major in the Plains States Region. Lawrence, Kansas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s area studies degrees to 5 students in 2021-2022.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Kansas Area Studies Report
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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
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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