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Best Value Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

2023 Best Value Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

43 Colleges
$15,758 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$47,692 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 66,787 communication and media studies students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #10 most popular in the country.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 43 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for communications students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 10 Best Communication & Media Studies Master's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Columbia College Chicago the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for communication and media studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Columbia are $2,350 per year.

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#2

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Spring Arbor University is a great value for communication and media studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Spring Arbor are $8,383 a year.

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#3

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

Out of the 43 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Youngstown State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a public school with a large student population.

Youngstown State University graduate students pay an average of $6,931 in tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Media Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $11,773 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Illinois State also is in the top 20% of our Best Communication & Media Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at Northern Illinois University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value communication and media studies schools in the Great Lakes Region . NIU is a large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at NIU are $11,390 a year.

Full Communication & Media Studies at Northern Illinois University Report

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#6

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

University of Dayton ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Media Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the midsize city of Dayton, UDayton is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UDayton are $18,140 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UDayton is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Communication & Media Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for communication and media studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. SIUE is a large public school located in the suburb of Edwardsville.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

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Purdue University Northwest landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree communication and media studies programs. Located in the suburb of Hammond, Purdue Northwest is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Purdue Northwest graduate students pay an average of $11,356 in tuition and fees each year.

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University of Akron Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for communication and media studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,936 per year.

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#10

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, MI

Central Michigan University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree communication and media studies programs. Central Michigan is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant.

Central Michigan graduate students pay an average of $15,644 in tuition and fees each year.

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Best Communication & Media Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best communication and media studies colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 1,789
Ohio 2,149
Illinois 2,072
Indiana 1,600
Wisconsin 1,297

Communication & Media Studies is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Communications

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Relations & Advertising 21,099
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 17,669
Journalism 13,552
Communication & Journalism (Other) 1,128
Publishing 336

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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