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2022 Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa

5 Ranked Colleges
451 Degrees Awarded
$17,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor's in Iowa

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 559,661 liberal arts / sciences and humanities students received their degree, making the major the 3rd most popular in the country. In 2017-2018, liberal arts / sciences and humanities 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 / sciences and humanities 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 / sciences and humanities graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” ranking looked at 5 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in liberal arts / sciences and humanities. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent liberal arts / sciences and humanities 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 / sciences and humanities program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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 / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities in Iowa

#2 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Iowa State is a large public school situated in Ames, Iowa. It awarded 80 bachelors’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State University is $15,496 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities students.

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 / Sciences & Humanities at Iowa State University

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. Iowa is a large school located in Iowa City, Iowa that handed out 190 bachelors’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Iowa is $19,145 for iowa bachelor’s degree liberal arts / sciences & humanities 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Iowa Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Report

#3

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities 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. 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.

In addition to being on our iowa bachelor’s degree liberal arts / sciences & humanities students list, UNI has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UNI is $15,620 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities students.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at University of Northern Iowa

#4

Grand View University

Des Moines, Iowa
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities 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. Grand View University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 23 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Grand View University also made our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Grand View University is $19,826 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities students.

Read more about Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Grand View University

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, Graceland University - Lamoni landed the #5 spot on the list. Graceland Lamoni is a small school located in Lamoni, Iowa that handed out 8 bachelors’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees in 2019-2020.

Graceland Lamoni also made our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for Graceland University - Lamoni is $17,650 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities students.

Full Graceland University - Lamoni Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities 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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