2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
Liberal Arts General Studies is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 1st of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 559,661 degrees were awarded to students with this major. 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 Pennsylvania, there were 3,750 liberal arts general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,748 and $20,831 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 949 liberal arts general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking looked at 20 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.
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 general studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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One Size Does Not Fit All
The liberal arts 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 Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania”.
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 Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania
The colleges and universities below are the best for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
Top 20 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts General Studies in Pennsylvania
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend West Chester University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. West Chester University of Pennsylvania is a fairly large public school situated in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It awarded 161 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
WCUPA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for West Chester University of Pennsylvania is $22,495 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. California University of Pennsylvania is a public institution located in California, Pennsylvania. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 55 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Cal U also took the #9 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California University of Pennsylvania is $18,154 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Clarion University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. Clarion University is a small public school situated in Clarion, Pennsylvania. It awarded 146 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
Clarion University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #11 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Clarion University is $20,011 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Clarion University of Pennsylvania
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Pittsburgh - Bradford. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. Bradford, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.
Pitt Bradford also took the #12 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Pittsburgh - Bradford is $18,906 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Pittsburgh - Bradford Liberal Arts General Studies Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. This large school is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Pitt, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Pitt is $27,938 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, 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%.
With a ranking of #6, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Edinboro University of Pennsylvania is a small school located in Edinboro, Pennsylvania that handed out 47 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
Edinboro also took the #16 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Edinboro is $16,833 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, this small public school awarded 1 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s liberal arts students in 2019-2020.
Pitt Johnstown did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #14 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Pitt Johnstown is $19,712 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Lock Haven University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Located in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, this small public school awarded 17 degrees to qualified bachelors’s liberal arts students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at LHU, the school also landed the #15 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend LHU is $20,506 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Lock Haven University
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Mansfield, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to 24 students in 2019-2020.
Mansfield University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #17 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is $19,065 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Mansfield University
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Cheyney, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to 6 students in 2019-2020.
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #18. It costs about $7,656 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students per year to attend Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.
Full Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Liberal Arts General Studies Report
With a ranking of #11, Manor College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Manor College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. It awarded 3 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Manor College, the school also landed the #19 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Manor College is $16,658 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Manor College
Lackawanna College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. This small school is located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Lackawanna College, the school also landed the #20 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $18,120 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students per year to attend Lackawanna College.
Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Lackawanna College
Eastern University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Saint Davids, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at EU, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for EU is $22,284 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
Neumann University landed the #14 spot on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Neumann University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Aston, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 67 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Neumann also took the #13 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $23,808 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students per year to attend Neumann University.
Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Neumann University
Saint Joseph’s University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #15. St. Joe’s is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 21 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.
St. Joe’s also took the #5 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend St. Joe’s is $33,375 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Saint Joseph’s University
University of Scranton came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. University of Scranton is a small school located in Scranton, Pennsylvania that handed out 17 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Scranton, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Scranton is $34,374 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.
Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at University of Scranton
Villanova University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Villanova University is a fairly large school located in Villanova, Pennsylvania that handed out 52 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
Villanova also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $41,027 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students per year to attend Villanova.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.
Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Villanova University
Drexel University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #17. Drexel is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It awarded 77 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Drexel, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Drexel University is $34,914 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Carnegie Mellon University landed the #19 spot on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Carnegie Mellon is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 17 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.
Carnegie Mellon not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Carnegie Mellon University is $34,508 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students.
With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at Carnegie Mellon
University of Pennsylvania ranked #20 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. UPenn is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 10 bachelors’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree liberal arts students list, UPenn has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Pennsylvania is $25,802 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 95%. The low student loan default rate of 1.4% 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%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at University of Pennsylvania
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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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