Majors

Best Colleges for Area Studies, by Earnings

327 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Area Studies, about 3,606 degrees a year. Across the 65 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $58,245 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	Cornell University	NY	$96,976	37	8.8%
2	Columbia University	NY	$96,884	64	4%
3	Miami University-Oxford	OH	$79,449	34	75.4%
4	Bowdoin College	ME	$75,966	39	7.1%
5	University of Notre Dame	IN	$75,832	29	11.3%
6	Fordham University	NY	$75,563	57	59.3%
7	University of Missouri	MO	$75,230	47	78.5%
8	Emory University	GA	$75,205	37	10.7%
9	Trinity College	CT	$73,229	17	29.3%
10	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$70,366	57	11%
11	Tufts University	MA	$69,037	26	11.5%
12	College of William & Mary	VA	$68,909	38	34.1%
13	Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	$68,806	1	70.6%
14	Amherst College	MA	$68,618	20	9%
15	Brigham Young University	UT	$67,310	51	67.8%
16	Yale University	CT	$67,230	39	3.9%
17	Florida State University	FL	$67,110	12	24.2%
18	Barnard College	NY	$66,117	23	8.8%
19	University of Virginia	VA	$65,970	4	16.8%
20	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$65,933	146	15.3%
21	Nevada State University	NV	$65,406	18	86.8%
22	Dartmouth College	NH	$65,226	39	5.4%
23	Colby College	ME	$64,207	17	7.1%
24	Dickinson College	PA	$63,874	19	42.1%
25	New York University	NY	$62,651	23	7.7%
26	Iowa State University	IA	$61,860	9	88.7%
27	University of Michigan-Dearborn	MI	$60,891	7	55.6%
28	Connecticut College	CT	$60,749	19	37%
29	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	$60,381	19	64%
30	Brown University	RI	$59,808	53	5.4%
31	University of Maryland	MD	$59,469	5	44.8%
32	University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	$59,042	27	33%
33	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$58,245	8	58.1%
34	University of Michigan	MI	$58,232	47	15.6%
35	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$57,009	56	26.6%
36	University of Washington	WA	$56,926	153	39.1%
37	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	$56,926	8	90.6%
38	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus	WA	$56,926	2	82.5%
39	Middlebury College	VT	$56,508	15	10.8%
40	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$55,733	35	45.2%
41	Oberlin College	OH	$55,151	35	34.2%
42	Brandeis University	MA	$54,306	51	40.5%
43	University of Oregon	OR	$54,279	18	88.3%
44	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$54,187	13	42.4%
45	Utah State University	UT	$53,200	32	92.5%
46	California State University-Northridge	CA	$53,077	9	93.5%
47	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$51,755	41	9%
48	Smith College	MA	$51,131	24	21%
49	California State University-Fullerton	CA	$50,739	27	90.5%
50	University at Albany	NY	$50,572	17	69.1%
51	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$50,071	51	46.3%
52	DePaul University	IL	$49,872	7	75.9%
53	University of Arizona	AZ	$48,162	42	86.1%
54	University of Connecticut	CT	$48,093	14	52.4%
55	St Olaf College	MN	$47,677	13	48.3%
56	Virginia Commonwealth University	VA	$45,852	27	92.6%
57	Millersville University of Pennsylvania	PA	$45,749	5	86.2%
58	University of Hawaii at Manoa	HI	$43,806	22	86.6%
59	Williams College	MA	$43,501	18	8.3%
60	University of Iowa	IA	$43,083	15	83.6%
61	California State University-Chico	CA	$41,818	17	92.7%
62	Western Washington University	WA	$40,623	9	93.3%
63	University of California-Riverside	CA	$39,039	12	76.4%
64	University of New Mexico-Main Campus	NM	$37,949	10	95.2%
65	Florida International University	FL	$23,742	30	54.7%

262 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid Area Studies graduates?

Cornell University ($96,976), Columbia University ($96,884), Miami University-Oxford ($79,449), Bowdoin College ($75,966), University of Notre Dame ($75,832) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Area Studies majors make?

The median across 65 colleges is $58,245 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $23,742 to $96,976.

Which colleges have the biggest Area Studies programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: University of Washington (153), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (146), Wesleyan University (81), Columbia University (64), Fordham University (57).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "Area Studies". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.