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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $48-$75k) in Illinois

5 Ranked Colleges
91 Degrees Awarded
$30,550 Avg Salary
Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 6,820 people earned their degree in area studies, making the major the 106th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, area studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $33,734 and had an average of $23,024 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 139 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,433 and $25,759 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 91 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in area studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great area studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the area studies 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 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 for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to 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 Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies (Income $48-$75k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s area studies degrees to 13 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree area studies students whose families make $48-$75k list, Northwestern has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern is $6,452 for illinois bachelor’s degree area studies students whose families make $48-$75k.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Area Studies at Northwestern University

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k list. UChicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 14 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UChicago, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UChicago is $7,934 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $48-$75k.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, 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 100%.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of Chicago

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #3 spot on the list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 18 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also took the #3 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $13,351 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend UIUC.

The low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Area Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 16 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $13,683 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at UIC

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s area studies degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for DePaul is $28,075 for illinois bachelor’s degree area studies students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at DePaul

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.

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