2023 Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Far Western US Region
13
Ranked Colleges
184
Degrees Awarded
$41,365
Avg Salary
Veterans have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s” ranking.
Area Studies is the 115th most popular major in the country with 6,966 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, area studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $33,127 and had an average of $20,927 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Far Western US region, there were 1,234 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,715 and $19,460 respectively.
For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s” ranking, we looked at 13 colleges that offer a degree in area studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality area studies programs as well as strong veteran support.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the area studies program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s
The colleges and universities below are the best for far western us region master’s degree vets studying area studies.
Top 13 Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Far Western US Region
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s list. UW Seattle is a public institution located in Seattle, Washington. The school has a large population, and it awarded 32 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UW Seattle not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.Our most recent data shows that 1,283 of the 48,149 students enrolled at UW Seattle were GI Bill® students, of which 769 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $14,190. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full University of Washington - Seattle Campus Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s area studies degrees to 11 students in 2020-2021.
UCLA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.According to our most recent data, UCLA supports 44,589 students, and 7 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 4 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $8,071. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read More…
Out of the 13 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Hawaii at Manoa landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Hawaii at Manoa is a fairly large public school situated in Honolulu, Hawaii. It awarded 15 masters’s area studies degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our far western us region master’s degree vets studying area studies list, UH Manoa has also earned the #12 rank in our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking.Among the 18,025 students enrolled at UH Manoa, 3 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 4 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $22,153. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. UH Manoa offers credit for military training for eligible students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at UH Manoa]](/colleges/university-of-hawaii-at-manoa/student-life/veterans/)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s list. University of California - San Diego is a public institution located in La Jolla, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UCSD not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.Of the 39,576 students enrolled at University of California - San Diego, 112 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 54 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $1,596. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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%.
Full University of California - San Diego Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s list. Located in Stanford, California, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 28 diplomas to qualified masters’s area studies students in 2020-2021.
Stanford not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.Of the 15,953 students enrolled at Stanford, 188 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 118 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $18,909. In addition to receiving other benefits, 61 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read More…
San Diego State University ranked #6 on this year’s Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s list. Located in San Diego, California, this large public school handed out 1 diplomas to qualified masters’s area studies students in 2020-2021.
SDSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.Among the 36,334 students enrolled at SDSU, 1,433 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 853 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,806. During this same period, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full SDSU Veteran Student Life Report
California State University - Long Beach landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s ranking. California State University - Long Beach is a public institution located in Long Beach, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 6 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at CSULB, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking.Of the 40,069 students enrolled at California State University - Long Beach, 822 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 310 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $3,845. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full California State University - Long Beach Veteran Student Life Report
University of San Francisco landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s ranking. San Francisco, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s area studies degrees to 17 students in 2020-2021.
USFCA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.Among the 10,068 students enrolled at USFCA, 6 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 5 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $19,232. In addition to receiving other benefits, 2 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 full report on veteran student life at University of San Francisco]](/colleges/university-of-san-francisco/student-life/veterans/)
University of California - Davis did quite well in the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s ranking, coming in at #9. UC Davis is a large school located in Davis, California that handed out 1 masters’s area studies degrees in 2020-2021.
UC Davis not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list.Among the 39,074 students enrolled at University of California - Davis, 31 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 23 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $6,489. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full UC Davis Veteran Student Life Report
University of California - Riverside landed the #10 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s ranking. Located in Riverside, California, this large public school awarded 2 degrees to qualified masters’s area studies students in 2020-2021.
UCR also made our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list, coming in at #13.Our most recent data shows that 11 of the 26,434 students enrolled at UCR were GI Bill® students, of which 5 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $2,182. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full UCR Veteran Student Life Report
University of Oregon landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s ranking. UO is located in Eugene, Oregon and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 7 masters’s area studies degrees to qualified students.
UO also made our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list, coming in at #11.Our most recent data shows that 582 of the 21,752 students enrolled at University of Oregon were GI Bill® students, of which 314 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $11,688. To help with additional expenses, 25 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. University of Oregon offers credit for military training for eligible students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Oregon Veteran Student Life Report
With a ranking of #12, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s list. Santa Barbara, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s area studies degrees to 1 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our far western us region master’s degree vets studying area studies list, UCSB has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking.According to our most recent data, University of California - Santa Barbara supports 26,179 students, and 286 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 128 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $9,510. In addition to receiving other benefits, 3 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. University of California - Santa Barbara does offer credit for military training for eligible students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full UCSB Veteran Student Life Report
California State University - Fullerton landed the #13 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Far Western US Region for Area Studies for a Master’s ranking. California State University - Fullerton is a large public school situated in Fullerton, California. It awarded 8 masters’s area studies degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal State Fullerton, the school also landed the #14 spot in our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking.Among the 42,051 students enrolled at Cal State Fullerton, 748 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 342 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,729. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full California State University - Fullerton Veteran Student Life 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).
- Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
- 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.
- **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
- 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.
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