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 city of Milwaukee, WLC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at WLC are $10,080 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, WLC is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ashland University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the fringe town of Ashland, Ashland is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ashland are $6,972 per year.
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Out of the 117 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Viterbo University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the small 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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Out of the 117 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ferris State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Ferris is a fairly large public school located in the town of Big Rapids.
Ferris graduate students pay an average of $8,232 in tuition and fees each year.
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Out of the 117 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Concordia University, Chicago landed the # 5 spot on the list. Concordia University, Chicago is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378 a year.
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With a ranking of #6, Bethel University - Mishawaka did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Bethel University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Mishawaka.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Bethel University are $7,880 a year.
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Spring Arbor University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor 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 Spring Arbor are $8,383 a year.
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Trinity Christian College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Palos Heights, Trinity Christian is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Trinity Christian are $10,708 per year.
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Youngstown State University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. Located in the small city of Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Youngstown State University are $6,931 a year.
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With a ranking of #10, Valparaiso University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Valpo is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Valparaiso.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Valpo are $12,220 a year.
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University of St Francis ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Joliet.
University of Saint Francis graduate students pay an average of $13,839 in tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, University of Saint Francis is 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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Olivet Nazarene University 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 small suburb of Bourbonnais, Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Olivet Nazarene are $12,190 per year.
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Alverno College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Milwaukee, Alverno is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Alverno graduate students pay an average of $10,402 in tuition and fees each year.
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Muskingum 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 #14 on the list. Muskingum is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of New Concord.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Muskingum are $10,350 a year.
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Carroll 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 #15 on the list. Carroll U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Waukesha.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Carroll U are $13,719 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Carroll U is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
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McKendree University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. McKendree is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Lebanon.
McKendree graduate students pay an average of $9,756 in tuition and fees each year.
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Illinois State University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Value Education 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.
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 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 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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