2023 Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $48-$75k) in Virginia

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 16,243 people earned their degree in area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies, making the major the 30th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,881 and had an average of $22,102 in loans still to pay off.

Across Virginia, there were 282 area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,884 and $21,240 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies programs, but they also 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, ethnic, culture, and gender studies program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $48-$75k) in Virginia

1

William & Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$10,995 Average Net Price

$47,762 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, William & Mary landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, this medium-sized public school handed out 63 degrees to qualified ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies students in 2020-2021.

William & Mary also made our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for William & Mary is $10,995 for virginia area, ethnic, culture, & gender studies students whose families make $48-$75k.

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 0.7% 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%.

Read more about Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies at William & Mary

2

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$16,019 Average Net Price

$58,809 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, this large public school handed out 40 degrees to qualified ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies students in 2020-2021.

University of Virginia also made our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend University of Virginia - Main Campus is $16,019 for Virginia Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies students whose families make $48-$75k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.7% 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%.

Read more about Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies at University of Virginia - Main Campus

3

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$18,553 Average Net Price

$47,786 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Commonwealth University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia For Those Making $48-$75k list. VCU is a large public school situated in Richmond, Virginia. It awarded 106 ’s area, ethnic, culture, and gender studies degrees in 2020-2021.

VCU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $18,553 for Virginia Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend VCU.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Virginia Commonwealth University Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Report

• Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $48-$75k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Colleges for Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies (Income $48-$75k)

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 G. Mützel.