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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Cognitive Science (Income $0-$30k)

35 Ranked Colleges
2,561 Degrees Awarded
$6,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor's For Those Making $0-$30k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 2,720 people earned their degree in cognitive science, making the major the 260th most popular in the United States.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 2,561 cognitive science graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 35 colleges that offered a degree in cognitive science. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality cognitive science 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 cognitive science program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Cognitive Science Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 25 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Cognitive Science (Income $0-$30k)

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Stanford University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k. Stanford is a fairly large school located in Stanford, California that handed out 106 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

Stanford did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for Stanford University is $-1,387 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k. The negative number means the student will receive more financial aid on average than it costs to attend the school.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Cognitive Science at Stanford University

#2

Yale University

New Haven, Connecticut
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Yale University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. New Haven, Connecticut is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s cognitive science degrees to 30 students in 2019-2020.

Yale also took the #2 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $2,125 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Yale.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 4 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 0.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Cognitive Science at Yale

#3

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 35 schools in the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Pennsylvania landed the #3 spot on the list. UPenn is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It awarded 61 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

UPenn also took the #3 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UPenn is $3,181 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Full University of Pennsylvania Cognitive Science Report

#4

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, Missouri
#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Washington University in St Louis. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. WUSTL is located in Saint Louis, Missouri and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 53 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees to qualified students.

WUSTL also made our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #7. The estimated yearly cost for WUSTL is $5,273 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Cognitive Science at WUSTL

#5

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 35 schools in the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Massachusetts Institute of Technology landed the #5 spot on the list. Cambridge, Massachusetts is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s cognitive science degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.

MIT also made our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Massachusetts Institute of Technology is $4,535 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 98%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read full report on Cognitive Science at MIT

#6

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island
#13 in overall quality

Brown University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #6. Brown University is a medium-sized school located in Providence, Rhode Island that handed out 14 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

Brown not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #13 on our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The yearly cost to attend Brown is $201 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%.

Read full report on Cognitive Science at Brown University

#7

Rice University

Houston, Texas
#8 in overall quality

Rice University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Houston, Texas is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s cognitive science degrees to 45 students in 2019-2020.

Rice also made our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #8. The yearly cost to attend Rice is $3,437 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Cognitive Science at Rice University

#8

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland
#14 in overall quality

With a ranking of #8, Johns Hopkins University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Baltimore, Maryland, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 32 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s cognitive science students in 2019-2020.

Johns Hopkins did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #14 on our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for Johns Hopkins University is $3,526 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Full Johns Hopkins University Cognitive Science Report

#9

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, Tennessee
#15 in overall quality

Vanderbilt University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. This fairly large school is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and it awarded 47 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Vanderbilt, the school also landed the #15 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Vanderbilt University is $3,156 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Vanderbilt University Cognitive Science Report

#10

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan
#18 in overall quality

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. U-M is a large school located in Ann Arbor, Michigan that handed out 75 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

U-M also took the #18 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $3,166 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Cognitive Science Report

#11

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California
#6 in overall quality

With a ranking of #11, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Berkeley, California, this large public school awarded 345 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s cognitive science students in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It costs about $8,392 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of California - Berkeley.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Cognitive Science at UC Berkeley

#12

Tufts University

Medford, Massachusetts
#10 in overall quality

Tufts University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. This fairly large school is located in Medford, Massachusetts, and it awarded 51 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k list, Tufts has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $5,267 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Tufts.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, 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 92%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full Tufts University Cognitive Science Report

#13

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#11 in overall quality

With a ranking of #13, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 181 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UCLA, the school also landed the #11 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Los Angeles is $8,553 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Cognitive Science at University of California - Los Angeles

#14

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana

Indiana University - Bloomington did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #14. IU Bloomington is a public institution located in Bloomington, Indiana. The school has a large population, and it awarded 17 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

The yearly cost to attend IU Bloomington is $4,969 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Cognitive Science at IU Bloomington

#15

University of Richmond

University of Richmond, Virginia
#17 in overall quality

University of Richmond came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. URichmond is a private not-for-profit institution located in University of Richmond, Virginia. The school has a small population, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

URichmond did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #17 on our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Richmond is $9,112 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The low student loan default rate of 1.2% 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 Cognitive Science at University of Richmond

#16 in overall quality

University of California - San Diego ranked #16 on this year’s Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of California - San Diego is a large public school situated in La Jolla, California. It awarded 632 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

UCSD did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #16 on our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The yearly cost to attend UCSD is $9,280 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Full University of California - San Diego Cognitive Science Report

University of California - Irvine did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #17. Located in Irvine, California, this large public school handed out 13 degrees to qualified bachelors’s cognitive science students in 2019-2020.

The yearly cost to attend University of California - Irvine is $9,558 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Cognitive Science at UC Irvine

#22 in overall quality

University of California - Davis landed the #18 spot on the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Davis, California, this large public school handed out 140 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s cognitive science students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Davis, the school also landed the #22 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UC Davis is $9,842 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.

Read more about Cognitive Science at University of California - Davis

#19

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#5 in overall quality

Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #19. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that handed out 17 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

Carnegie Mellon also took the #5 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $12,542 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Carnegie Mellon.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The low student loan default rate of 0.6% 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%.

Full Carnegie Mellon Cognitive Science Report

#20

University of Georgia

Athens, Georgia

University of Georgia came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Athens, Georgia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s cognitive science degrees to 47 students in 2019-2020.

It costs about $7,541 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UGA.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Cognitive Science at UGA

#21

Vassar College

Poughkeepsie, New York
#23 in overall quality

Vassar College landed the #21 spot on the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Vassar is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Poughkeepsie, New York. It awarded 20 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

Vassar did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #23 on our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for Vassar College is $8,186 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Cognitive Science at Vassar

The University of Texas at Dallas ranked #22 on this year’s Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. The University of Texas at Dallas is a large public school situated in Richardson, Texas. It awarded 24 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

It costs about $10,857 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend The University of Texas at Dallas.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.

Full UT Dallas Cognitive Science Report

#23

Franklin and Marshall College

Lancaster, Pennsylvania
#19 in overall quality

With a ranking of #23, Franklin and Marshall College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s cognitive science degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Franklin and Marshall, the school also landed the #19 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Franklin and Marshall is $11,503 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Cognitive Science at Franklin and Marshall

#24

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

University of California - Santa Cruz came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school situated in Santa Cruz, California. It awarded 143 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Santa Cruz is $10,872 for Bachelor’s Degree Cognitive Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Cognitive Science at University of California - Santa Cruz

#25

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#12 in overall quality

University of Southern California came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Cognitive Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. USC is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 61 bachelors’s cognitive science degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #12 spot in our “Best Cognitive Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Southern California is $14,668 for bachelor’s degree cognitive science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read full report on Cognitive Science at USC

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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Allan Ajifo.

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