2023 Best Value Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Law School for You
Law is the #28 most popular major in the country with 36,216 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 25 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for law students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Law Schools
Our analysis found Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School to be the best value school for law students who want to pursue a degree in the Great Lakes Region . WMU-Cooley Law School is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lansing.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Northern Illinois University is a great value for law students. NIU is a large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NIU are $14,738 per year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Capital University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Capital is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Columbus.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Capital are $39,338 a year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Akron Main Campus. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the midsize city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public school with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,880 a year.
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The excellent programs at Loyola University Chicago helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best law schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Loyola Chicago are $47,808 per year.
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With a ranking of #6, University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UW - Madison are $38,608 a year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UW - Madison also is in the top 5% of our Best Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.
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Marquette University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Marquette is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Milwaukee.
Marquette undergraduate students pay an average of $45,766 in tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Marquette is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
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With a ranking of #8, Purdue University Global did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students. Purdue University Global is a very large public school located in the small city of Indianapolis.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Purdue University Global are $14,436 per year.
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With a ranking of #9, Northwestern University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for law students. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northwestern are $60,768 per year.
Northwestern also took the #2 spot in our Best Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.
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University of Chicago ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Law Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UChicago are $60,963 per year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UChicago is ranked #3 for overall quality for law in the Great Lakes Region .
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Request InformationBest Law Colleges by State
Explore the best law schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 1,285 |
| Ohio | 1,015 |
| Illinois | 1,700 |
| Indiana | 599 |
| Wisconsin | 463 |
More Law Rankings in the Great Lakes Region
Law Related Majors for Law
Law is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Law
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Legal Support Services | 11,545 |
| Legal Research | 6,874 |
| Non-Professional General Legal Studies | 4,407 |
| Legal Professions (Other) | 2,013 |
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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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