2023 Best Value General Education Schools in Virginia
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best General Education School for You
General Education is the #42 most popular major in Virginia with 918 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value General Education Schools in Virginia ranking. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in Virginia to see which programs offered the best value experiences for education students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best General Education Schools
Our 2023 rankings named James Madison University the best value school in Virginia for general education students. Located in the city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public school with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at JMU are $12,638 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, JMU also is in the top 10% of our Best General Education Schools in Virginia ranking.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Longwood University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools in Virginia list. Longwood is a small public school located in the remote town of Farmville.
Longwood undergraduate students pay an average of $14,090 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Mary Washington is a great value for general education students. UMW is a small public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Fredericksburg.
UMW undergraduate students pay an average of $13,800 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on General Education at University of Mary Washington
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Out of the 10 schools in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Lynchburg landed the # 4 spot on the list. Lynchburg is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lynchburg.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Lynchburg are $33,500 a year.
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Out of the 10 schools in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.
University of Virginia undergraduate students pay an average of $19,785 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, University of Virginia is ranked #1 for overall quality for education in Virginia.
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Radford University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Schools in Virginia ranking. Located in the small suburb of Radford, Radford is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
Radford undergraduate students pay an average of $11,542 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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George Mason University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Schools in Virginia ranking. GMU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Fairfax.
GMU undergraduate students pay an average of $13,119 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
GMU excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best General Education Schools in Virginia list.
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Virginia Commonwealth University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools in Virginia list. VCU is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Richmond.
VCU undergraduate students pay an average of $15,028 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Liberty University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general education programs. Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lynchburg.
Liberty University undergraduate students pay an average of $16,160 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Education majors at Liberty University take out an average of $39,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Shenandoah University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general education programs. Shenandoah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Winchester.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Shenandoah are $34,490 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Shenandoah also is in the top 20% of our Best General Education Schools in Virginia ranking.
Read full report on General Education at Shenandoah University
Request InformationBest Value General Education Colleges in the Southeast Region
Explore all the Best Value General Education Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Georgia | 117 |
| North Carolina | 255 |
| Florida | 622 |
| Tennessee | 605 |
| Kentucky | 95 |
| South Carolina | 352 |
| Louisiana | 116 |
| Arkansas | 133 |
| Alabama | 115 |
| Mississippi | 407 |
| West Virginia | 301 |
More General Education Rankings in Virginia
General Education Related Majors for Education
General Education is one of 14 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Education
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 110,226 |
| Educational Administration | 46,469 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 43,297 |
| Special Education | 36,792 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 19,832 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 10 schools only.
- 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 the rest 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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