2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Religious Studies in Pennsylvania

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 for a Master’s in Pennsylvania” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Religious Studies is the 115th most popular major in the country with 9,704 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Pennsylvania, there were 254 religious studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,500 and $28,875 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 60 religious studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer 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

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 Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania” list to help you make the college decision.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania

The colleges and universities below are the best for pennsylvania master’s degree religion students.

Top 5 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Religious Studies in Pennsylvania

#1

Cairn University

Langhorne, Pennsylvania

#3 in overall quality

$14,040 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Cairn University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania. Cairn is located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 19 masters’s religion degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania master’s degree religion students list, Cairn has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Religious Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Cairn are $14,040, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Religious Studies at Cairn University

#2

University of Scranton

Scranton, Pennsylvania

#4 in overall quality

$11,630 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Scranton landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Scranton is a small school located in Scranton, Pennsylvania that handed out 3 masters’s religion degrees in 2019-2020.

University of Scranton also took the #4 spot in our “Best Religious Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Scranton are $11,630.

Full University of Scranton Religious Studies Report

#3

Temple University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

#2 in overall quality

$24,236 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Temple University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania list. Temple University is a large public school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It awarded 3 masters’s religion degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Temple, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Religious Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Temple University are $24,236, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Religious Studies at Temple University

#4

West Chester University of Pennsylvania

West Chester, Pennsylvania

#5 in overall quality

$16,758 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend West Chester University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania. WCUPA is located in West Chester, Pennsylvania and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 masters’s religion degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania master’s degree religion students list, WCUPA has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Religious Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at West Chester University of Pennsylvania are $16,758.

Read more about Religious Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania

#5

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

#1 in overall quality

$41,760 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Religion Schools for a Master’s in Pennsylvania list. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s religion degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

UPenn did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Religious Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UPenn are $41,760.

Read full report on Religious Studies at University of Pennsylvania

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Religious Studies in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Religious Studies

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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