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Best Value Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Value Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

100 Colleges
$32,800 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$31,493 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Area Studies Bachelor's Degree School for You

Area Studies is the #112 most popular major in the country with 6,966 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 100 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for area studies students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for area studies majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.

Top 15% Best Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Brigham Young University - Provo to be the best value school for area studies students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the United States. BYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Provo.

BYU undergraduate students pay an average of $6,120 in tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that area studies majors at BYU take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $11,871.

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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Minnesota - Duluth helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value area studies schools in the United States. UMN Duluth is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Duluth.

UMN Duluth undergraduate students pay an average of $19,148 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UMN Duluth also is in the top 20% of our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Area Studies at University of Minnesota - Duluth Report

#3

Hunter College

New York, NY

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Hunter College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value area studies schools in the United States. Hunter is a fairly large public school located in the large city of New York.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Hunter are $15,332 a year.

Full Area Studies at Hunter College Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Missouri - Columbia. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Mizzou is a very large public school located in the city of Columbia.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Mizzou are $30,450 per year. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $461, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

In addition to its great value ranking, Mizzou is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list.

Full Area Studies at University of Missouri - Columbia Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Siena Heights University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the town of Adrian, Siena Heights University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Siena Heights University undergraduate students pay an average of $28,502 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, area studies graduates from Siena Heights University carry an average student debtload of $34,014.

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#6

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for area studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SDSU are $20,016 a year.

Full Area Studies at San Diego State University Report

With a ranking of #7, Iowa State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for area studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Iowa State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Ames.

Iowa State undergraduate students pay an average of $25,446 in tuition and fees each year.

Iowa State also claimed a spot on our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Area Studies at Iowa State University Report

California State University - Long Beach did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for area studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSULB are $18,726 per year. Area Studies majors at CSULB take out an average of $17,515 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

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#9

Bowdoin College

Brunswick, ME

Bowdoin College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Bowdoin is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Brunswick.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Bowdoin are $58,322 a year.

Bowdoin did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Area Studies at Bowdoin College

With a ranking of #10, Millersville University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best value schools for area studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Millersville is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Millersville.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Millersville are $22,226 a year. The average amount in student loans that area studies majors at Millersville take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $21,453.

Read More…

#11

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public college with a very large student population.

SFSU undergraduate students pay an average of $19,184 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Area Studies at San Francisco State University Report

California State University - Fullerton did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for area studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Fullerton.

Cal State Fullerton undergraduate students pay an average of $18,856 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, area studies graduates from Cal State Fullerton carry an average student debtload of $17,763.

Full Area Studies at California State University - Fullerton Report

California State University - Chico did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for area studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Chico State is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Chico.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Chico State are $19,744 a year.

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Ramapo College of New Jersey came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Mahwah, Ramapo College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Ramapo College are $24,694 per year.

Read full report on Area Studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey

Miami University - Oxford ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Miami University - Oxford is a fairly large public school located in the town of Oxford.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Miami University - Oxford are $36,288 a year. On average, area studies graduates from Miami University - Oxford take out $20,876 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

Miami University - Oxford also claimed a spot on our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Area Studies students seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
16 Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY
17 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT
18 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH
19 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
19 University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC

Area Studies by Region

View the Best Value Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Area Studies is one of 2 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Ethnic Studies 9,231
Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Other) 46

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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 Karl Udo Gerth.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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