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Best Value Area Studies Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Value Area Studies Master's Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

52 Colleges
$29,644 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$46,380 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Area Studies Master'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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Area Studies Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 52 schools in the United States to see which master'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.

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 Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Area Studies Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Area Studies Master's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of Delaware the best value school in the United States for area studies students working on their master’s degree. UD is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Newark.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UD are $18,128 a year.

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

Full Area Studies at University of Delaware Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend The University of Texas at Austin. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 a year.

UT Austin excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools list.

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#3

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

SDSU graduate students pay an average of $19,074 in tuition and fees each year.

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#4

Trinity College

Hartford, CT

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Trinity College is a great value for area studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Hartford, Trinity Bantams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Trinity Bantams are $18,880 per year.

Read full report on Area Studies at Trinity College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.

UW - Madison graduate students pay an average of $25,501 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UW - Madison also is in the top 5% of our Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Area Studies at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

University of California - Berkeley came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

UC Berkeley graduate students pay an average of $29,262 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UC Berkeley also is in the top 5% of our Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

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California State University - Long Beach landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree area studies programs. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSULB are $17,784 per year.

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#7

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Ithaca.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Cornell are $30,006 a year.

Cornell also claimed a spot on our Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

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#9

William & Mary

Williamsburg, VA

William & Mary ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small suburb of Williamsburg, William & Mary is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

William & Mary graduate students pay an average of $34,978 in tuition and fees each year.

William & Mary excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Area Studies at William & Mary

#10

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Georgetown graduate students pay an average of $55,128 in tuition and fees each year.

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

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Area Studies by Region

View the Best Value Area Studies Master'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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