2024 Best Value Colleges for Social Sciences in Iowa
8
Ranked Colleges
1,455
Degrees Awarded
$22,300
Avg Net Price*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking.
With 205,984 degrees handed out in 2020-2021, social sciences is the 5th most popular major in the United States. In 2019-2020, social sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $36,262 and had an average of $23,306 in loans still to pay off.
Across Iowa, there were 1,455 social sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,710 and $24,650 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in social sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent social sciences programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the social sciences program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank Social Sciences 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 Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” list to help you make the college decision.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. 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 Social Sciences Schools in Iowa
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Social Sciences in Iowa
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #1 spot on the list. Iowa is a large school located in Iowa City, Iowa that handed out 495 ’s social sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our iowa social sciences students list, Iowa has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $19,401 for Iowa Social Sciences students per year to attend University of Iowa.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Iowa Social Sciences Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa. Iowa State is a public institution located in Ames, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 192 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Iowa State also made our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State University is $16,002 for iowa social sciences students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full Iowa State Social Sciences Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Northern Iowa. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa list. UNI is a public institution located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 155 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UNI also made our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $16,438 for iowa social sciences students per year to attend University of Northern Iowa.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Social Sciences at UNI
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Upper Iowa University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa. This small school is located in Fayette, Iowa, and it awarded 86 ’s social sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our iowa social sciences students list, UIU has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UIU is $24,063 for Iowa Social Sciences students.
Read more about Social Sciences at UIU
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Loras College. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa. Loras is located in Dubuque, Iowa and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 25 ’s social sciences degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Loras, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Loras College is $21,629 for Iowa Social Sciences students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Loras
Drake University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa ranking. Drake University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Des Moines, Iowa. It awarded 79 ’s social sciences degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Drake, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Drake University is $29,903 for Iowa Social Sciences students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Social Sciences at Drake
Luther College landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa ranking. Luther College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Decorah, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 38 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Luther, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Luther is $25,538 for Iowa Social Sciences students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Luther College
Grinnell College landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Iowa ranking. Grinnell College is located in Grinnell, Iowa and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 119 ’s social sciences degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Grinnell, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Social Sciences Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $25,182 for Iowa Social Sciences students per year to attend Grinnell.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Grinnell
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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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