2023 Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in Virginia (With Aid)
4
Ranked Colleges
144
Degrees Awarded
$20,800
Avg Net Price*
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 Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
Geological & Earth Sciences is the 95th most popular major in the country with 7,821 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, geological and earth sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $38,705 and had an average of $23,383 in loans still to pay off.
Across Virginia, there were 144 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,567 and $23,195 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in geological and earth sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality geological and earth sciences programs that also have a lower cost than 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 geological and earth sciences program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
More Ways to Rank Geological & Earth Sciences 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 Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid.
Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in Virginia (With Aid)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Tech. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid list. Virginia Tech is located in Blacksburg, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 26 ’s geology degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Virginia Tech, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Tech is $21,301 for virginia geology students with aid.
With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at Virginia Tech
Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, William & Mary landed the #2 spot on the list. William & Mary is located in Williamsburg, Virginia and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 27 ’s geology degrees to qualified students.
William & Mary also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $19,593 for virginia geology students with aid per year to attend William & Mary.
With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at William & Mary
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend James Madison University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, this large public school awarded 34 diplomas to qualified ’s geology students in 2020-2021.
JMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $22,562 for virginia geology students with aid per year to attend JMU.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at James Madison University
Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools in Virginia For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, George Mason University landed the #4 spot on the list. George Mason University is a large school located in Fairfax, Virginia that handed out 19 ’s geology degrees in 2020-2021.
GMU also took the #3 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $19,551 for Virginia Geology students with aid per year to attend GMU.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at GMU
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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
- *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 Kelvinsong.