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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in Illinois

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

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Area Studies is the 106th most popular major in the country with 6,820 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in area studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent area studies programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the area studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

The area studies school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in Illinois

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 list. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s area studies degrees to 18 students in 2019-2020.

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.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. 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 full report on 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 #2 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. UIC is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 16 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also took the #4 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $13,312 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at UIC

#3

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 #3 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. DePaul University is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 11 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $30,090 for illinois bachelor’s degree area studies students per year to attend DePaul University.

The low student loan default rate of 4.5% 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 DePaul University Area Studies Report

#4

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Northwestern is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 13 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern is $24,664 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Area Studies at Northwestern University

#4

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 14 degrees to qualified bachelors’s area studies students in 2019-2020.

UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $27,315 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students per year to attend UChicago.

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. With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Full University of Chicago Area Studies Report

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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

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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