2023 Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Finding the Best Education School for You
With 327,871 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, education is the #4 most popular major in the United States.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 155 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2023 Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Check out the education programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 15% Best Education Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Northwestern University the best school in the Great Lakes Region for education students. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Out of the 155 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Hope College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Hope is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Holland.
After completing their degree, education graduates from Hope carry an average student debtload of $27,000.
Out of the 155 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Norbert College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of De Pere, SNC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that education majors at SNC take out is $26,000.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Wisconsin Lutheran College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Milwaukee, WLC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Education majors at WLC take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
Out of the 155 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Augustana College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Augustana is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Rock Island.
After completing their degree, education graduates from Augustana carry an average student debtload of $27,000.
With a ranking of #6, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. SIUC is a large public school located in the city of Carbondale.
While working on their degree, education majors at SIUC accumulate an average of around $19,901 in student debt.
Read full report on Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Illinois Wesleyan University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #7 on the list. Illinois Wesleyan is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Bloomington.
Read full report on Education at Illinois Wesleyan University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #8 on this year’s Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, education graduates from UIUC carry an average student debtload of $18,125. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $371.
With a ranking of #9, Calvin University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Calvin is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Grand Rapids.
After completing their degree, education graduates from Calvin carry an average student debtload of $23,697.
University of St Francis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #10 on the list. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.
While working on their degree, education majors at University of Saint Francis accumulate an average of around $23,878 in student debt.
Illinois State University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal.
After completing their degree, education graduates from Illinois State carry an average student debtload of $22,083. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $332.
North Central College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. North Central is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Naperville.
Education majors at North Central take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $255, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the city of Eau Claire, UW - Eau Claire is a public school with a large student population.
The average amount in student loans that education majors at UW - Eau Claire take out is $26,404.
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Green Bay, NWTC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
On average, education graduates from NWTC take out $14,150 in student loans while working on their degree.
Full Education at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Report
Marquette University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Marquette is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.
On average, education graduates from Marquette take out $27,000 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $294.
University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best education programs. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, education graduates from UW - Madison carry an average student debtload of $24,541.
Purdue University - Main Campus came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a very large student population.
The average amount in student loans that education majors at Purdue take out is $20,740. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $353, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
Carthage College ranked #18 on this year’s Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Kenosha, Carthage is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
While working on their degree, education majors at Carthage accumulate an average of around $26,750 in student debt.
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse ranked #19 on this year’s Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UW - La Crosse is a fairly large public school located in the city of La Crosse.
After completing their degree, education graduates from UW - La Crosse carry an average student debtload of $26,971.
Bradley University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
While working on their degree, education majors at Bradley accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $768.
University of Wisconsin - River Falls came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the distant town of River Falls, UW - River Falls is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
After completing their degree, education graduates from UW - River Falls carry an average student debtload of $25,238.
Read full report on Education at University of Wisconsin - River Falls
With a ranking of #22, Huntington University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Located in the town of Huntington, Huntington is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
With a ranking of #23, University of Wisconsin - Stout did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. UW - Stout is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Menomonie.
On average, education graduates from UW - Stout take out $25,101 in student loans while working on their degree.
Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Carroll University | Waukesha, WI |
| 25 | Alma College | Alma, MI |
| 26 | Valparaiso University | Valparaiso, IN |
| 27 | Fox Valley Technical College | Appleton, WI |
| 28 | University of Illinois at Chicago | Chicago, IL |
| 29 | Trinity Christian College | Palos Heights, IL |
| 30 | Ball State University | Muncie, IN |
| 31 | Indiana University - Bloomington | Bloomington, IN |
Best Education Colleges by State
Explore the best education colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Indiana | 11,570 |
| Michigan | 5,939 |
| Ohio | 9,238 |
| Illinois | 10,567 |
| Wisconsin | 5,792 |
More Education Rankings in the Great Lakes Region
Education Related Rankings by Major
Education Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 110,226 |
| Educational Administration | 46,469 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 43,297 |
| Special Education | 36,792 |
| General Education | 29,810 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 19,832 |
| Student Counseling | 13,858 |
| Instructional Media Design | 8,695 |
| Teaching English or French | 5,791 |
| Other Education | 4,858 |
| Teaching Assistants | 2,751 |
| Educational Assessment | 2,552 |
| Multilingual Education | 1,910 |
| Education Philosophy | 737 |
| International Education | 293 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 205,984 |
| Psychology | 195,678 |
| Communication & Journalism | 120,571 |
| Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 55,820 |
| History | 32,731 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 Horadrim.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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