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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism in Iowa (With Aid)

4 Ranked Colleges
270 Degrees Awarded
$22,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor's in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Journalism is the 62nd most popular major in the country with 14,528 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,042 and had an average of $24,628 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 331 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,175 and $20,697 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 270 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in journalism. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent journalism programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the journalism program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Journalism 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 Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism in Iowa (With Aid)

#1

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Iowa. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. This large school is located in Iowa City, Iowa, and it awarded 146 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Iowa is $19,145 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The low student loan default rate of 3.5% 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%.

Full Iowa Journalism 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 Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Iowa State University is a large school located in Ames, Iowa that handed out 77 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Iowa State, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $15,496 for iowa bachelor’s degree journalism students with aid per year to attend Iowa State.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Journalism at Iowa State

#3

Drake University

Des Moines, Iowa

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Drake University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Drake University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 31 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Drake also took the #2 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Drake University is $29,432 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Full Drake University Journalism Report

#4

Saint Ambrose University

Davenport, Iowa
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Saint Ambrose University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Saint Ambrose University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Davenport, Iowa. It awarded 4 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

St. Ambrose University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. The estimated yearly cost for St. Ambrose University is $26,204 for iowa bachelor’s degree journalism students with aid.

Read more about Journalism at Saint Ambrose University

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

Footnotes

  • *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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Jfurrer.

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