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Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

89 Colleges
$14,754 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$46,931 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Liberal Arts General Studies Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 556,813 degrees and certificates were awarded to liberal arts general studies students, making the major the most popular in the country.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 89 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for liberal arts students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Liberal Arts General Studies Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found American Public University System to be the best value school for liberal arts general studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. American Military University is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the fringe town of Charles Town.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at American Military University are $7,050 a year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at American Public University System

Out of the 89 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Metropolitan State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Metro State is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Metro State are $10,237 per year.

Read More…

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Fort Hays State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the remote town of Hays, FHSU is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at FHSU are $11,376 a year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Fort Hays State University

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means The University of Texas at Austin is a great value for liberal arts general studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UT Austin is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Liberal Arts General Studies Master’s Degree Schools list.

Full Liberal Arts General Studies at The University of Texas at Austin Report

Out of the 89 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Arizona State University - Skysong landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at ASU - Skysong are $9,982 per year.

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Western Illinois University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for liberal arts general studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Western Illinois University

With a ranking of #7, Texas A & M University - Central Texas did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts general studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the rural area of Killeen, Texas A & M University - Central Texas is a public school with a small student population.

Texas A & M University - Central Texas graduate students pay an average of $13,604 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Texas A & M University - Central Texas

#8

Tiffin University

Tiffin, OH

With a ranking of #8, Tiffin University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts general studies students working on their master’s degree. Tiffin University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Tiffin.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Tiffin University are $13,000 a year.

Full Liberal Arts General Studies at Tiffin University Report

#9

Adams State University

Alamosa, CO

With a ranking of #9, Adams State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts general studies students working on their master’s degree. Adams State is a small public school located in the town of Alamosa.

Adams State graduate students pay an average of $10,896 in tuition and fees each year.

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#10

Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX

Wayland Baptist University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree liberal arts general studies programs. Located in the remote town of Plainview, Wayland Baptist University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Wayland Baptist University are $15,232 a year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Wayland Baptist University

#11

Henderson State University

Arkadelphia, AR

Henderson State University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the distant town of Arkadelphia, Henderson State University is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Henderson State University are $9,108 per year.

Read More…

#12

University of St. Thomas

Houston, TX

University of St. Thomas ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Houston, UST is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UST are $21,634 a year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at University of St. Thomas

#13

DePaul University

Chicago, IL

DePaul University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for liberal arts general studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

DePaul graduate students pay an average of $18,341 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at DePaul University

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great value schools for Liberal Arts General Studies students seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 Excelsior College Albany, NY
15 Mount Saint Mary’s University Los Angeles, CA
16 St John’s College Annapolis, MD
16 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC

Liberal Arts General Studies by Region

View the Best Value Liberal Arts General 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

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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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