2024 Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region
3
Ranked Colleges
971
Degrees Awarded
$15,400
Avg Net Price*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking.
In 2020-2021, 6,966 people earned their degree in area studies, making the major the 115th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, area studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $33,127 and had an average of $20,927 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Southwest region, there were 971 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,908 and $20,361 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in area studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent area studies programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the area studies program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools
When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region
The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region area studies students.
Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Area Studies in the Southwest Region
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of New Mexico - Main Campus. It ranked #1 on our 2024 Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region list. UNM is a public institution located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The school has a large population, and it awarded 39 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UNM also made our “Best Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $14,424 for southwest region area studies students per year to attend University of New Mexico - Main Campus.
Read full report on Area Studies at University of New Mexico - Main Campus
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #2 on our 2024 Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region list. UT Austin is a large public school situated in Austin, Texas. It awarded 107 ’s area studies degrees in 2020-2021.
UT Austin not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for UT Austin is $18,350 for Southwest Region Area Studies students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.
Full The University of Texas at Austin Area Studies Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Arizona. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region. Located in Tucson, Arizona, this large public school handed out 73 diplomas to qualified ’s area studies students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our southwest region area studies students list, University of Arizona has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Area Studies Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Arizona is $13,358 for southwest region area studies students.
Read full report on Area Studies at University of Arizona
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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