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2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

5 Ranked Colleges
451 Degrees Awarded
$17,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor's in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 559,661 liberal arts general studies students received their degree, making the major the 1st most popular in the country. In 2017-2018, liberal arts general studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $26,786 and had an average of $16,538 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 6,129 liberal arts general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,768 and $15,875 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 451 liberal arts general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in liberal arts general studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality liberal arts general studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the liberal arts general studies program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” 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 Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

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

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts General Studies in Iowa (With Aid)

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 Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Iowa State is a large school located in Ames, Iowa that handed out 80 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $15,496 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students with aid 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 student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Iowa State

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

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 Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Located in Iowa City, Iowa, this large public school handed out 190 degrees to qualified bachelors’s liberal arts students in 2019-2020.

Iowa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $19,145 for iowa bachelor’s degree liberal arts students with aid per year to attend Iowa.

With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at University of Iowa

#3

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northern Iowa. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. UNI is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 76 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.

UNI also took the #3 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Northern Iowa is $15,620 for iowa bachelor’s degree liberal arts students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 3.6% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at UNI

#4

Grand View University

Des Moines, Iowa

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Grand View University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. This small school is located in Des Moines, Iowa, and it awarded 23 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

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

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Grand View University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Graceland University - Lamoni. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Graceland University - Lamoni is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Lamoni, Iowa. It awarded 8 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Graceland Lamoni, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Graceland Lamoni is $17,650 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students with aid.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Graceland University - Lamoni

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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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