2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 District of Columbia, there were 221 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $46,900 and $40,178 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 72 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $44,446 and $25,767 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in area studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality area studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

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

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 Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia” list to help you make the college decision.

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 District of Columbia

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia bachelor’s degree area studies students.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in District of Columbia

#1

American University

Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$43,451 Average Net Price

$39,648 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia list. The American University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 18 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

The American University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list. The estimated yearly cost for The American University is $43,451 for District of Columbia Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, 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 85%.

Read full report on Area Studies at American University

#2

George Washington University

Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$33,719 Average Net Price

$38,289 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #2 spot on the list. George Washington University is a large school located in Washington, District of Columbia that handed out 29 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

GWU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list. It costs about $33,719 for district of columbia bachelor’s degree area studies students per year to attend GWU.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, 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 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Area Studies at George Washington University

#3

Georgetown University

Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$28,909 Average Net Price

$46,087 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, Georgetown University landed the #3 spot on the list. Georgetown University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 25 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

Georgetown not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list. The yearly cost to attend Georgetown is $28,909 for district of columbia bachelor’s degree area studies students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, 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 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at Georgetown University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies

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 Karl Udo Gerth.

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