2023 Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies (Income $0-$30k) in District of Columbia

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Religion Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Religious Studies is the 90th most popular major in the country with 9,470 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, religious studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $34,289 and had an average of $24,431 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 68 religious studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $46,613 and $27,000 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Religion Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in religious studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great religious studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the religious studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The religion 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 “Best Value Religion Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k”.

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 Religion Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia religion students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies (Income $0-$30k) in District of Columbia

1

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$17,673 Average Net Price

$65,148 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Washington University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Religion Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k. George Washington University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 25 ’s religion degrees to qualified students.

GWU also made our “Best Religious Studies Schools in District of Columbia” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $17,673 for district of columbia religion students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend GWU.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Religious Studies at GWU

2

Catholic University of America
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$25,747 Average Net Price

$55,014 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Catholic University of America. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Religion Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k list. This medium-sized school is located in Washington, District of Columbia, and it awarded 20 ’s religion degrees in 2020-2021.

CUA also took the #1 spot in our “Best Religious Studies Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. It costs about $25,747 for District of Columbia Religion students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend CUA.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Religious Studies at CUA

• Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Religious 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 Sowlos.