2022 Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies is the 30th most popular major in the country with 16,240 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $30,827 and had an average of $22,562 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 179 area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,800 and $24,375 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree 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.

More Ways to Rank Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender 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, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

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

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k.

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

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$10,054 Average Net Price

$46,410 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k list. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies degrees to 25 students in 2019-2020.

Iowa State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa” list. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State University is $10,054 for iowa area, ethnic, culture, & gender studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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 89%.

Read full report on Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies at Iowa State

#2

Grinnell College

Grinnell, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$11,945 Average Net Price

$27,217 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Grinnell College. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Grinnell, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 14 diplomas to qualified ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies students in 2019-2020.

Grinnell did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend Grinnell is $11,945 for Iowa Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies at Grinnell College

#3

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$12,975 Average Net Price

$44,594 Average Early-Career Earnings

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 Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Iowa is a large public school situated in Iowa City, Iowa. It awarded 119 ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $12,975 for iowa area, ethnic, culture, & gender studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Iowa.

The low student loan default rate of 3.5% 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 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of Iowa Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Report

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

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