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2023 Best Value Urban Studies Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

89 Colleges
$23,419 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$39,193 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Urban Studies School for You

Urban Studies is the #208 most popular major in the country with 1,507 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Urban Studies Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 89 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best value experiences for urban studies 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. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Urban Studies Schools in the United States

Check out the urban studies programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 15% Best Urban Studies Schools

Our 2023 rankings named The Graduate Center, CUNY the best value school in the United States for urban studies students. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of New York.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at The Graduate Center are $15,360 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, The Graduate Center also did well on our Best Urban Studies Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Urban Studies at The Graduate Center, CUNY Report

#2

Xavier University

Cincinnati, OH

Out of the 89 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Xavier University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Cincinnati, Xavier is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Xavier are $42,460 per year.

Read full report on Urban Studies at Xavier University

#3

Coppin State University

Baltimore, MD
$13,334 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Coppin State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Urban Studies Schools list. Located in the city of Baltimore, Coppin is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Coppin are $13,334 a year.

Full Urban Studies at Coppin State University Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Urban Studies Schools list. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $19,732 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, San Jose State also did well on our Best Urban Studies Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Minnesota State University - Mankato. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Urban Studies Schools list. Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mankato.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $18,200 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Minnesota State Mankato also did well on our Best Urban Studies Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

University of Minnesota - Duluth came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Urban Studies Schools ranking. UMN Duluth is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Duluth.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UMN Duluth are $19,148 a year.

UMN Duluth excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Urban Studies Schools list.

Full Urban Studies at University of Minnesota - Duluth Report

#7

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA
$19,184 Average Tuition & Fees

San Francisco State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Urban Studies Schools ranking. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SFSU are $19,184 a year. While working on their degree, urban studies majors at SFSU accumulate an average of around $20,301 in student debt.

Read More…

#8

Hunter College

New York, NY
$15,332 Average Tuition & Fees

Hunter College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value urban studies programs. 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.

Read More…

University of Nebraska at Omaha landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value urban studies programs. UNOMAHA is a large public school located in the large city of Omaha.

UNOMAHA undergraduate students pay an average of $21,718 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UNOMAHA also is in the top 20% of our Best Urban Studies Schools ranking.

Full Urban Studies at University of Nebraska at Omaha Report

University of Wisconsin - Green Bay ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Urban Studies Schools list. Located in the city of Green Bay, UW - Green Bay is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UW - Green Bay are $16,091 a year.

Read full report on Urban Studies at University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

#11

Saint Cloud State University

Saint Cloud, MN

Saint Cloud State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value urban studies programs. St. Cloud State University is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Saint Cloud.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at St. Cloud State University are $18,010 a year.

St. Cloud State University excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Urban Studies Schools list.

Read More…

#12

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, OH
$16,654 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #12, Cleveland State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for urban studies students. Located in the city of Cleveland, Cleveland State University is a public school with a large student population.

Cleveland State University undergraduate students pay an average of $16,654 in tuition and fees each year. On average, urban studies graduates from Cleveland State University take out $31,750 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Urban Studies at Cleveland State University

$19,252 Average Tuition & Fees

Wright State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for urban studies students. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Dayton, Wright State University - Main Campus is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Wright State University - Main Campus are $19,252 per year.

Read More…

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Urban Studies students seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Urban Studies Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI
15 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
16 University of Nevada - Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
17 University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK

Urban Studies by Region

View the Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a specific region near you.

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

Urban Studies is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Political Science & Government 49,282
Economics 49,055
Sociology 38,475
General Social Sciences 18,997
International Relations & National Security 14,306

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 Andrew Bossi.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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