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Liberal Arts General Studies

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2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate

10 Ranked Colleges
114 Degrees Awarded
$35,600 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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.

At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 114 liberal arts general studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $72,680 and $116,043 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate” ranking looked at 10 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in liberal arts general studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent liberal arts general studies programs, but they also cost less that 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. 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 Doctorate” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to 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 Doctorate

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate.

Top 11 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts General Studies

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Texas at Dallas. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate. UT Dallas is a large school located in Richardson, Texas that handed out 20 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Dallas not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at The University of Texas at Dallas are $28,610, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas

#2

Montana State University

Bozeman, Montana
#9 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Montana State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate. MSU Bozeman is located in Bozeman, Montana and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.

MSU Bozeman not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Montana State University are $21,446, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full MSU Bozeman Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#2

University of Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee
#10 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Memphis landed the #2 spot on the list. UofM is a large public school situated in Memphis, Tennessee. It awarded 1 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

UofM not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #10 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UofM are $14,202.

Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at UofM

#10 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend New Mexico State University - Main Campus. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate. NMSU Main Campus is a public institution located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our doctor’s degree liberal arts students list, NMSU Main Campus has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at NMSU Main Campus are $18,275, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at NMSU Main Campus

#4

University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Louisville landed the #4 spot on the list. University of Louisville is a large public school situated in Louisville, Kentucky. It awarded 4 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

UofL not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Louisville are $27,575, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UofL Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#5

George Mason University

Fairfax, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Mason University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate list. George Mason University is a public institution located in Fairfax, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 6 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

GMU also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #5. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at George Mason University are $37,410.

Read full report on Liberal Arts General Studies at George Mason University

#7 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate list. Located in Columbus, Ohio, this large public school handed out 7 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s liberal arts students in 2019-2020.

Ohio State also took the #7 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio State are $37,141.

Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Ohio State University - Main Campus

#7

Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia
#3 in overall quality

Emory University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate ranking. This fairly large school is located in Atlanta, Georgia, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Emory also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #3. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Emory are $44,676.

Full Emory University Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#4 in overall quality

Southern Methodist University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate list. SMU is located in Dallas, Texas and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.

SMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Southern Methodist University are $47,478.

Full SMU Liberal Arts General Studies Report

#9

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland
#2 in overall quality

Johns Hopkins University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate ranking. Johns Hopkins University is a large school located in Baltimore, Maryland that handed out 2 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Johns Hopkins also made our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #2. Average graduate tuition and fees at Johns Hopkins are $59,425, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Liberal Arts General Studies at Johns Hopkins University

#10

Georgetown University

Washington, District of Columbia
#1 in overall quality

Georgetown University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts Schools for a Doctorate ranking. Georgetown University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 8 doctorate’s liberal arts degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Georgetown, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts General Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Georgetown are $53,591, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Georgetown University Liberal Arts General Studies Report

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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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