Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

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

5 Ranked Colleges
151 Degrees Awarded
$21,800 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor's in Virginia

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Virginia” ranking - to help you make that 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 Virginia, there were 177 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,775 and $21,966 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 151 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” 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.

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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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 Virginia

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

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

#1

George Mason University

Fairfax, Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Mason University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia. Fairfax, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s area studies degrees to 8 students in 2019-2020.

GMU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for GMU is $21,048 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students.

The low 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Area Studies at GMU

#2

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, Virginia

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Virginia is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

University of Virginia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $20,397 for virginia bachelor’s degree area studies students per year to attend University of Virginia.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Virginia - Main Campus Area Studies Report

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #3 spot on the list. Virginia Commonwealth University is a large public school situated in Richmond, Virginia. It awarded 57 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia bachelor’s degree area studies students list, VCU has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $22,021 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students per year to attend Virginia Commonwealth University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full VCU Area Studies Report

#4

William & Mary

Williamsburg, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend William & Mary. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia list. William & Mary is a public institution located in Williamsburg, Virginia. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 38 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

William & Mary also took the #1 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend William & Mary is $19,800 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students.

The low student loan default rate of 1.0% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.

Read full report on Area Studies at William & Mary

#5

University of Richmond

University of Richmond, Virginia

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Richmond landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in University of Richmond, Virginia, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 33 degrees to qualified bachelors’s area studies students in 2019-2020.

URichmond also made our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for URichmond is $25,838 for virginia bachelor’s degree area studies students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.2% 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%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full University of Richmond Area Studies Report

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

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

Featured Political and Social Sciences Schools

Find Schools Near You