2023 Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies is the 30th most popular major in the country with 16,243 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,881 and had an average of $22,102 in loans still to pay off.

Across Virginia, there were 282 area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,884 and $21,240 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies programs, but they also 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, ethnic, culture, and gender studies program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia area, ethnic, culture, & gender studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia

1

William & Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$5,972 Average Net Price

$47,762 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend William & Mary. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, this medium-sized public school handed out 63 diplomas to qualified ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies students in 2020-2021.

William & Mary not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $5,972 for Virginia Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend William & Mary.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.7% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Full William & Mary Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Report

2

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$12,476 Average Net Price

$58,809 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Virginia - Main Campus is a large school located in Charlottesville, Virginia that handed out 40 ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies degrees in 2020-2021.

University of Virginia also made our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $12,476 for Virginia Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Virginia.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.7% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies at University of Virginia - Main Campus

3

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$14,507 Average Net Price

$47,786 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Richmond, Virginia, this large public school awarded 106 degrees to qualified ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies students in 2020-2021.

VCU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Commonwealth University is $14,507 for virginia area, ethnic, culture, & gender studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% 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 more about Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies at VCU

• Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $0-$30k)

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 G. Mützel.