2022 Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies in Iowa (With Aid)

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Religion Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 9,704 people earned their degree in religious studies, making the major the 115th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, religious studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $32,163 and had an average of $28,712 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 83 religious studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $26,870 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Religion Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in religious studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality religious studies programs that also have a lower cost than 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.

More Ways to Rank Religious Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Religion Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Religion Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for iowa religion students with aid.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies in Iowa (With Aid)

#1

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$19,145 Average Net Price

$44,594 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Religion Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #1 spot on the list. Iowa City, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s religion degrees to 13 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa religion students with aid list, Iowa has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Religious Studies Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Iowa is $19,145 for Iowa Religion students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. 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%.

Full University of Iowa Religious Studies Report

#2

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$15,496 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 #2 on our 2022 Best Value Religion Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Iowa State is a large public school situated in Ames, Iowa. It awarded 6 ’s religion degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Religious Studies Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State is $15,496 for iowa religion students with aid.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Religious Studies at Iowa State

#3

Luther College

Decorah, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$23,620 Average Net Price

$34,644 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Luther College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Religion Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Decorah, Iowa. It awarded 7 ’s religion degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Luther, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Religious Studies Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Luther is $23,620 for Iowa Religion students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Luther College Religious Studies Report

• Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies in the Plains States Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Colleges for Religious Studies (With Aid)

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.

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