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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Drama & Theater Arts in Iowa

9 Ranked Colleges
128 Degrees Awarded
$23,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor's in Iowa

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Drama & Theater Arts is the 59th most popular major in the country with 18,124 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, drama and theater arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $21,403 and had an average of $26,932 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 157 drama and theater arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $23,125 and $25,784 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 128 drama and theater arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in drama and theater arts. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality drama and theater arts 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 drama and theater arts 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.

More Ways to Rank Drama & Theater Arts Schools

The theater 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 Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa

The colleges and universities below are the best for iowa bachelor’s degree theater students.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Drama & Theater Arts in Iowa

#1

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 #1 for the Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa. University of Northern Iowa is a medium-sized public school situated in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It awarded 20 bachelors’s theater degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa bachelor’s degree theater students list, UNI has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $15,620 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Theater students per year to attend University of Northern Iowa.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UNI Drama & Theater Arts Report

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Iowa. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa list. University of Iowa is a large school located in Iowa City, Iowa that handed out 29 bachelors’s theater degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Iowa, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $19,145 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Theater students per year to attend University of Iowa.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at University of Iowa

#3

Clarke University

Dubuque, Iowa
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Clarke University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa list. Clarke is a small school located in Dubuque, Iowa that handed out 2 bachelors’s theater degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa bachelor’s degree theater students list, Clarke has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Clarke is $34,204 for iowa bachelor’s degree theater students.

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. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Drama & Theater Arts at Clarke University

#4

Grand View University

Des Moines, Iowa
#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Grand View University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa. Grand View University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Grand View University, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Grand View University is $19,826 for iowa bachelor’s degree theater students.

Full Grand View University Drama & Theater Arts Report

#5

Saint Ambrose University

Davenport, Iowa
#9 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Saint Ambrose University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa. Saint Ambrose University is located in Davenport, Iowa and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s theater degrees to qualified students.

St. Ambrose University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $26,204 for iowa bachelor’s degree theater students per year to attend St. Ambrose University.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at St. Ambrose University

#6

Luther College

Decorah, Iowa
#1 in overall quality

Luther College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa ranking, coming in at #6. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Decorah, Iowa. It awarded 4 bachelors’s theater degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa bachelor’s degree theater students list, Luther has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Luther College is $23,620 for iowa bachelor’s degree theater students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.2% 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%.

Full Luther Drama & Theater Arts Report

#7

Drake University

Des Moines, Iowa

Drake University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa list. Drake is a private not-for-profit institution located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 19 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Drake also made our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $29,432 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Theater students per year to attend Drake.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. 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. The low student loan default rate of 2.2% 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 more about Drama & Theater Arts at Drake

#8

Coe College

Cedar Rapids, Iowa
#7 in overall quality

Coe College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa ranking. Coe is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 bachelors’s theater degrees to qualified students.

Coe not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. The estimated yearly cost for Coe College is $19,955 for iowa bachelor’s degree theater students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Coe College Drama & Theater Arts Report

#9

Grinnell College

Grinnell, Iowa
#6 in overall quality

Grinnell College landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Theater Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa ranking. Grinnell is a small school located in Grinnell, Iowa that handed out 10 bachelors’s theater degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Grinnell, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $22,486 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Theater students per year to attend Grinnell.

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. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Grinnell College

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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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