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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

4 Ranked Colleges
419 Degrees Awarded
$13,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor's in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 365,980 liberal arts students received their degree, making the major the 2nd most popular in the country.

Across Iowa, there were 5,869 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 419 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in liberal arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great liberal arts programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the liberal arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” 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. 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 Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for iowa bachelor’s degree liberal studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Iowa State is located in Ames, Iowa and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 80 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees to qualified students.

Iowa State also made our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $10,054 for iowa bachelor’s degree liberal studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Iowa State University.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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 full report on Liberal Arts at Iowa State

#2

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. UNI is a public institution located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 76 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UNI also made our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $10,757 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Northern Iowa.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Liberal Arts at UNI

#3

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Iowa. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Iowa is a large public school situated in Iowa City, Iowa. It awarded 190 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $12,975 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Iowa.

The low student loan default rate of 3.5% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts at Iowa

#4

Grand View University

Des Moines, Iowa
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Grand View University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. This small school is located in Des Moines, Iowa, and it awarded 22 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

Grand View University also made our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #4. The yearly cost to attend Grand View University is $18,481 for iowa bachelor’s degree liberal studies students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Liberal Arts at Grand View University

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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