2023 Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree School for You
Geological & Earth Sciences is the #96 most popular major in the country with 7,821 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 24 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for geology students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
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.
Featured Geology Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
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Top 10 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master's Degree Schools
Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for geological and earth sciences students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Illinois State is a very large public school located in the 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 Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
Full Geological & Earth Sciences at Illinois State University Report
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Akron Main Campus is a great value for geological and earth sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public school with a 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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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. NIU is a large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.
NIU graduate students pay an average of $11,390 in tuition and fees each year.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Ohio University - Athens Campus helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value geological and earth sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public college with a very large student population.
OHIO Athens graduate students pay an average of $17,712 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bowling Green State University - Main Campus. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. BGSU is a fairly large public school located in the town of Bowling Green.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at BGSU are $15,823 per year.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a very large student population.
UW - Madison graduate students pay an average of $25,501 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UW - Madison also did well on our Best Geological & Earth Sciences 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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With a ranking of #7, Indiana State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for geological and earth sciences students working on their master’s degree. Indiana State is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Terre Haute.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Indiana State are $15,562 a year.
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Purdue University - Main Campus came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Purdue graduate students pay an average of $28,794 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Purdue also did well on our Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Wright State University - Main Campus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Wright State University - Main Campus is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Dayton.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Wright State University - Main Campus are $24,286 per year.
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Western Michigan University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for geological and earth sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. WMU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Kalamazoo.
WMU graduate students pay an average of $26,248 in tuition and fees each year.
Full Geological & Earth Sciences at Western Michigan University Report
Request InformationBest Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges by State
Explore the best geological and earth sciences colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 211 |
| Ohio | 237 |
| Illinois | 140 |
| Indiana | 98 |
| Wisconsin | 130 |
More Geological & Earth Sciences Rankings in the Great Lakes Region
Majors Related to Geology
One of 8 majors within the area of study, geological and earth sciences has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Geology
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | 21,239 |
| Physics | 13,674 |
| General Physical Sciences | 3,823 |
| Astronomy & Astrophysics | 1,375 |
| Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology | 1,140 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 24 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 Kelvinsong.
More about our data sources and methodologies.