2023 Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Education Master's Degree 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.
The Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 117 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for education students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 15% Best Education Master's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Wisconsin Lutheran College the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Milwaukee, WLC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
WLC graduate students pay an average of $10,080 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, WLC also did well on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Ashland University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the fringe town of Ashland, Ashland is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Ashland are $6,972 a year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Viterbo University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of La Crosse, Viterbo 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 Viterbo are $9,488 a year.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Ferris State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in the Great Lakes Region . Ferris is a fairly large public school located in the town of Big Rapids.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 a year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Concordia University, Chicago. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Concordia University, Chicago is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.
Concordia University, Chicago graduate students pay an average of $9,378 in tuition and fees each year.
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Bethel University - Mishawaka came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Bethel University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Mishawaka.
Bethel University graduate students pay an average of $7,880 in tuition and fees each year.
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Spring Arbor University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Spring Arbor are $8,383 per year.
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Trinity Christian College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large suburb of Palos Heights, Trinity Christian is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Trinity Christian are $10,708 a year.
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Youngstown State University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a public college 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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Valparaiso University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Valpo is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Valparaiso.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Valpo are $12,220 per year.
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University of St Francis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Joliet.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 per year.
University of Saint Francis excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
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With a ranking of #12, Olivet Nazarene University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small suburb of Bourbonnais, Olivet Nazarene 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 Olivet Nazarene are $12,190 a year.
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Alverno College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the large city of Milwaukee, Alverno is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Alverno are $10,402 per year.
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With a ranking of #14, Muskingum University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Muskingum is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of New Concord.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Muskingum are $10,350 per year.
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Carroll University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Carroll U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Waukesha.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Carroll U are $13,719 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Carroll U also is in the top 10% of our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.
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McKendree University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. McKendree is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Lebanon.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at McKendree are $9,756 per year.
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Illinois State University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. Illinois State is a fairly large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Illinois State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
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Here are some additional great value schools for Education students in the Great Lakes Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Northern Illinois University | Dekalb, IL |
| 19 | Baldwin Wallace University | Berea, OH |
| 20 | Marian University | Fond Du Lac, WI |
| 20 | Concordia University, Wisconsin | Mequon, WI |
| 22 | North Central College | Naperville, IL |
| 23 | Xavier University | Cincinnati, OH |
Best Education Colleges by State
Explore the best education schools 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 Majors for Education
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.
- 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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