2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k
9
Ranked Colleges
918
Degrees Awarded
$17,300
Avg Net Price*
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.
General Education is the 41st most popular major in the country with 29,810 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, general education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $48,719 and had an average of $23,394 in loans still to pay off.
Across Virginia, there were 918 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $52,474 and $25,866 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in general education. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general education programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general education program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
One Size Does Not Fit All
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 Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k
The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k.
Top 9 Best Value Colleges for General Education (Income $30-$48k) in Virginia
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Virginia - Main Campus is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 159 ’s education degrees to qualified students.
University of Virginia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Virginia - Main Campus is $10,063 for Virginia Education students whose families make $30-$48k.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.
Full University of Virginia General Education Report
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, James Madison University landed the #2 spot on the list. James Madison University is a public institution located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 295 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
JMU also made our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend JMU is $14,985 for Virginia Education students whose families make $30-$48k.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.0% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on General Education at JMU
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Virginia Commonwealth University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k. Richmond, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s education degrees to 116 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k list, VCU has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Commonwealth University is $15,891 for Virginia Education students whose families make $30-$48k.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% 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 General Education at Virginia Commonwealth University
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Radford University landed the #4 spot on the list. Radford University is a public institution located in Radford, Virginia. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 38 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Radford also took the #9 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Radford University is $13,026 for virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k.
Read more about General Education at Radford
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Mary Washington. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k. Located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, this small public school handed out 75 diplomas to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
UMW also made our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #7. The yearly cost to attend UMW is $16,459 for Virginia Education students whose families make $30-$48k.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Education at University of Mary Washington
George Mason University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #6. Located in Fairfax, Virginia, this large public school handed out 27 degrees to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k list, GMU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for GMU is $15,979 for virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k.
With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full George Mason University General Education Report
Longwood University landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. This small school is located in Farmville, Virginia, and it awarded 75 ’s education degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k list, Longwood has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $14,936 for virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Longwood University.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Longwood General Education Report
Shenandoah University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. Shenandoah University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Winchester, Virginia. It awarded 24 ’s education degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k list, Shenandoah has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Shenandoah is $26,784 for virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Shenandoah University General Education Report
Liberty University landed the #9 spot on the 2023 Best Value Education Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 93 diplomas to qualified ’s education students in 2020-2021.
Liberty University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best General Education Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Liberty University is $27,251 for virginia education students whose families make $30-$48k.
Read full report on General Education at Liberty University
Focus on a Specific Degree Level
Switch to a More General Major
Switch to a Similar Major
Switch to a More Focused Major
Switch to a Different Ranking Method
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.
Credits
- Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO.
college factual
