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2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

5 Ranked Colleges
91 Degrees Awarded
$22,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this 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 Getting Aid” 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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 for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree area studies students with aid.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in Illinois (With Aid)

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 18 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIUC, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UIUC is $15,880 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at UIUC

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. UIC is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 16 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree area studies students with aid list, UIC has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIC is $13,312 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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%.

Full University of Illinois at Chicago Area Studies Report

#3

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Northwestern is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 13 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $24,664 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students with aid per year to attend Northwestern.

The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Area Studies at Northwestern University

#4

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #4 spot on the list. UChicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 14 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

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 $27,315 for illinois bachelor’s degree area studies students with aid.

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 school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Read full report on Area Studies at University of Chicago

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at DePaul, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend DePaul University is $30,090 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students with aid.

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 full report on Area Studies at DePaul 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.

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