2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Doctorate in Illinois” 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 Illinois, there were 139 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,433 and $25,759 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 2 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,900 and $148,219 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in area studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality area studies programs that also have a lower cost than 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

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 Doctorate in Illinois”.

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. 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 Doctorate in Illinois

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

Top 2 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$30,083 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Area Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Area Studies at UIUC

#2

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$27,036 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large public school handed out 1 degrees to qualified doctorate’s area studies students in 2019-2020.

UIC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Area Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIC are $27,036, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Area Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Doctor’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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