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Best Value Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$40,867 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.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

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 in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for area studies students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees 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 Great Lakes Region

Check out the area studies bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Siena Heights University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for area studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the town of Adrian, Siena Heights University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Siena Heights University are $28,502 a year. Area Studies majors at Siena Heights University take out an average of $34,014 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

Full Area Studies at Siena Heights University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Miami University - Oxford. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Miami University - Oxford is a fairly large public school located in the fringe town of Oxford.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Miami University - Oxford are $36,288 a year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, area studies graduates from Miami University - Oxford carry an average student debtload of $20,876.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Miami University - Oxford also did well on our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Area Studies at Miami University - Oxford

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UW - Madison are $38,608 a year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, area studies graduates from UW - Madison carry an average student debtload of $19,370.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UW - Madison is ranked #5 for overall quality for area studies in the Great Lakes Region .

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIUC are $37,632 per year. Area Studies majors at UIUC take out an average of $19,973 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UIUC also did well on our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

Out of the 11 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIC are $30,370 per year. On average, area studies graduates from UIC take out $16,160 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 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. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UWM are $21,475 a year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, area studies majors at UWM accumulate an average of around $21,619 in student debt.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

#7

DePaul University

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #7, DePaul University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for area studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at DePaul are $42,012 a year. The average amount in student loans that area studies majors at DePaul take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $22,386.

Read More…

With a ranking of #8, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s best value schools for area studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. U-M is a very large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at U-M are $55,097 a year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, area studies majors at U-M accumulate an average of around $16,527 in student debt.

U-M did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

Indiana University - Bloomington came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public school with a fairly large student population.

IU Bloomington undergraduate students pay an average of $38,352 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Read More…

#10

Oberlin College

Oberlin, OH

Oberlin College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the fringe town of Oberlin, Oberlin is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Oberlin undergraduate students pay an average of $60,243 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Area Studies at Oberlin College

Best Area Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best area studies schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 124
Ohio 182
Illinois 148
Indiana 101
Wisconsin 66

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 11 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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