2024 Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington
3
Ranked Colleges
236
Degrees Awarded
$13,500
Avg Net Price*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Area Studies is the 115th most popular major in the country with 6,966 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, area studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $33,127 and had an average of $20,927 in loans still to pay off.
Across Washington, there were 236 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,738 and $18,027 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.
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. 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 in Washington” list to help you make the college decision.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington.
Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Area Studies in Washington
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington. Located in Seattle, Washington, this large public school awarded 192 degrees to qualified ’s area studies students in 2020-2021.
UW Seattle did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Area Studies Schools in Washington” list. The yearly cost to attend UW Seattle is $12,017 for Washington Area Studies students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.1% 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 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Area Studies Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Washington University. It ranked #2 on our 2024 Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington list. Bellingham, Washington is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s area studies degrees to 12 students in 2020-2021.
WWU also took the #2 spot in our “Best Area Studies Schools in Washington” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for WWU is $17,070 for Washington Area Studies students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Western Washington University Area Studies Report
Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area Studies Schools in Washington that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Washington - Bothell Campus landed the #3 spot on the list. Bothell, Washington is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s area studies degrees to 10 students in 2020-2021.
UW Bothell also made our “Best Area Studies Schools in Washington” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for University of Washington - Bothell Campus is $11,562 for Washington Area Studies students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full UW Bothell 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
- *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