2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
General Studies is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 5th of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 133,583 degrees were awarded to students with this major.
At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 13,667 general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking analyzed 160 colleges that offered a degree in general studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general studies programs that also have a lower cost than 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 general studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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One Size Does Not Fit All
The general 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 General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s”.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s
The colleges and universities below are the best for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
Top 25 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Studies
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Public University System. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. American Public University System is a large school located in Charles Town, West Virginia that handed out 118 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at American Military University, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $10,222 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend American Public University System.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 98%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full American Public University System General Studies Report
Out of the 160 schools in the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia College landed the #2 spot on the list. Columbia College Missouri is a medium-sized school located in Columbia, Missouri that handed out 377 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
Columbia College Missouri also made our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for Columbia College Missouri is $26,730 for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
Out of the 160 schools in the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Brigham Young University - Idaho landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Rexburg, Idaho, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 623 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
The yearly cost to attend Brigham Young University - Idaho is $7,167 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 3.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Out of the 160 schools in the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern New Hampshire University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Manchester, New Hampshire, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 798 degrees to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree general studies students list, SNHU has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Southern New Hampshire University is $41,095 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
Out of the 160 schools in the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, University of North Dakota landed the #5 spot on the list. University of North Dakota is a public institution located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 110 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
UND did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for UND is $15,738 for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
West Texas A&M University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. West Texas A&M University is a public institution located in Canyon, Texas. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 202 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for West Texas A&M University is $12,761 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
Eastern New Mexico University - Main Campus came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. ENMU - Main Campus is located in Portales, New Mexico and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 77 bachelors’s general studies degrees to qualified students.
The yearly cost to attend ENMU - Main Campus is $9,516 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
University of South Dakota landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. University of South Dakota is located in Vermillion, South Dakota and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 45 bachelors’s general studies degrees to qualified students.
It costs about $18,555 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend University of South Dakota.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Brigham Young University - Hawaii did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #9. BYU - H is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Laie, Hawaii. It awarded 1 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
It costs about $14,051 for bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend BYU - H.
Read full report on General Studies at Brigham Young University - Hawaii
With a ranking of #10, South Dakota State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. South Dakota State is a public institution located in Brookings, South Dakota. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 30 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
It costs about $19,252 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend South Dakota State.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Minot State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #11. MSU is a small school located in Minot, North Dakota that handed out 26 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
It costs about $11,898 for bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend MSU.
National University landed the #12 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Located in La Jolla, California, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 22 degrees to qualified bachelors’s general studies students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at National University, the school also landed the #13 spot in our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking.
The low student loan default rate of 4.5% 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%.
Southeast Missouri State University landed the #13 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Southeast Missouri State University is a public institution located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 172 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for Southeast Missouri State University is $12,774 for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
Read full report on General Studies at Southeast Missouri State University
With a ranking of #14, Georgia Southern University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Georgia Southern University is a large public school situated in Statesboro, Georgia. It awarded 190 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on this list, GaSou is in the top on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in that analysis. It costs about $15,536 for bachelor’s degree general studies students per year to attend GaSou.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #15. Northwestern Oklahoma State University is a small public school situated in Alva, Oklahoma. It awarded 31 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for NWOSU is $9,791 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
Read more about General Studies at Northwestern Oklahoma State University
Southeastern Oklahoma State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #16. This medium-sized school is located in Durant, Oklahoma, and it awarded 90 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
It costs about $8,237 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Read more about General Studies at Southeastern Oklahoma State University
Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global landed the #17 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. IWU is a private not-for-profit institution located in Marion, Indiana. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 69 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for IWU is $22,207 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
Baker College landed the #18 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Baker College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Owosso, Michigan. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 39 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for Baker College is $15,049 for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
West Virginia University at Parkersburg ranked #19 on this year’s Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Parkersburg, West Virginia is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s general studies degrees to 63 students in 2019-2020.
The yearly cost to attend West Virginia University at Parkersburg is $6,342 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
Read full report on General Studies at West Virginia University at Parkersburg
With a ranking of #20, University of North Texas did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. This large school is located in Denton, Texas, and it awarded 618 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
UNT not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #17 on our “Best General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It costs about $15,086 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students per year to attend University of North Texas.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.
With a ranking of #21, Northeastern State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Northeastern State University is a public institution located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 89 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for NSU is $9,994 for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
Read full report on General Studies at Northeastern State University
Potomac State College of West Virginia University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. WVU Potomac State College is a small public school situated in Keyser, West Virginia. It awarded 21 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
The yearly cost to attend WVU Potomac State College is $8,635 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
Read more about General Studies at WVU Potomac State College
Texas Woman’s University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Texas Woman’s University is a fairly large school located in Denton, Texas that handed out 238 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for Texas Woman’s University is $9,617 for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
University of Central Oklahoma ranked #24 on this year’s Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. University of Central Oklahoma is a fairly large public school situated in Edmond, Oklahoma. It awarded 196 bachelors’s general studies degrees in 2019-2020.
The yearly cost to attend UCO is $16,562 for Bachelor’s Degree General Studies students.
With a ranking of #25, Ferris State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Ferris State University is located in Big Rapids, Michigan and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 54 bachelors’s general studies degrees to qualified students.
The yearly cost to attend Ferris is $12,889 for bachelor’s degree general studies students.
Read full report on General Studies at Ferris State University
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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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