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

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Master’s in Virginia” ranking as one item you can use to help make this 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 master’s degree level specifically, there were 20 area studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Master’s in Virginia” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

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.

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

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 Master’s in Virginia” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Master’s in Virginia

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Master’s in Virginia.

Top 2 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in Virginia

#1

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$32,394 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Master’s in Virginia. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, this large public school handed out 9 degrees to qualified masters’s area studies students in 2019-2020.

University of Virginia also made our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Virginia - Main Campus are $32,394.

Read more about Area Studies at University of Virginia

#2

George Mason University

Fairfax, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$37,410 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Mason University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Area Studies Schools for a Master’s in Virginia list. GMU is a large public school situated in Fairfax, Virginia. It awarded 9 masters’s area studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia master’s degree area studies students list, GMU has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Area Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at George Mason University are $37,410, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Area Studies at GMU

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Area Studies in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Master’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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