2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” ranking is part of that endeavor.

With 365,980 degrees handed out in 2019-2020, liberal arts is the 2nd most popular major in the United States.

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” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in liberal arts. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality liberal arts 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 liberal arts program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The liberal 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 Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa”.

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. 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

The colleges and universities below are the best for iowa bachelor’s degree liberal studies students.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in Iowa

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$15,496 Average Net Price

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. Iowa State is a public institution located in Ames, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 80 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also made our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $15,496 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students per year to attend Iowa State University.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Iowa State Liberal Arts Report

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$19,145 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Iowa. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa. Iowa is a public institution located in Iowa City, Iowa. The school has a large population, and it awarded 190 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa also made our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for University of Iowa is $19,145 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students.

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

Read full report on Liberal Arts at Iowa

#3

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$15,620 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this medium-sized public school handed out 76 degrees to qualified bachelors’s liberal studies students in 2019-2020.

UNI also took the #3 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UNI is $15,620 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. 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%.

Full University of Northern Iowa Liberal Arts Report

#4

Grand View University

Des Moines, Iowa

#4 in overall quality

$19,826 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, Grand View University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Des Moines, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 22 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s liberal studies students in 2019-2020.

Grand View University also took the #4 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Grand View University is $19,826 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students.

Read full report on Liberal Arts at Grand View University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts

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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