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

5 Ranked Colleges
85 Degrees Awarded
$21,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor's in Minnesota

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Minnesota” ranking.

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 Minnesota, there were 90 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $25,800 and $20,950 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 85 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,526 and $26,035 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Minnesota” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer 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.

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.

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 Minnesota” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 Minnesota

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

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

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Duluth. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Minnesota list. UMN Duluth is a fairly large school located in Duluth, Minnesota that handed out 4 bachelors’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our minnesota bachelor’s degree area studies students list, UMN Duluth has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Minnesota” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Minnesota - Duluth is $17,067 for minnesota bachelor’s degree area studies students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Minnesota - Duluth Area Studies Report

#2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, Minnesota
#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Minnesota list. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this large public school handed out 5 degrees to qualified bachelors’s area studies students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our minnesota bachelor’s degree area studies students list, UMN Twin Cities has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Minnesota” ranking. It costs about $17,740 for Minnesota Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students per year to attend UMN Twin Cities.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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 UMN Twin Cities

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Minnesota State University - Mankato. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Minnesota. Minnesota State Mankato is a public institution located in Mankato, Minnesota. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Minnesota State Mankato did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Minnesota” list. The estimated yearly cost for Minnesota State University - Mankato is $16,221 for Minnesota Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Area Studies at Minnesota State University - Mankato

#4

St Olaf College

Northfield, Minnesota

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend St Olaf College. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Minnesota. St Olaf College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Northfield, Minnesota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 25 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

St. Olaf not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Minnesota” list. It costs about $23,543 for minnesota bachelor’s degree area studies students per year to attend St. Olaf.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, 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 91%.

Full St. Olaf Area Studies Report

#5

Carleton College

Northfield, Minnesota

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Carleton College. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Minnesota list. Carleton is located in Northfield, Minnesota and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 21 bachelors’s area studies degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Carleton, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Area Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Minnesota” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Carleton is $31,133 for Minnesota Bachelor’s Degree Area Studies students.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Carleton College 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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