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Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

28 Colleges
$27,346 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$50,486 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, political science and government was ranked #20 in the country. In fact 49,282 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 28 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for political science students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the political science master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for political science and government students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Illinois State also is in the top 20% of our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Illinois State University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Western Illinois University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at WIU are $12,182 per year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Western Illinois University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Northern Illinois University

Out of the 28 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Akron Main Campus landed the # 4 spot on the list. University of Akron Main Campus is a large public school located in the midsize city of Akron.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,936 per year.

Full Political Science & Government at University of Akron Main Campus Report

#5

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

The excellent master’s degree programs at Marquette University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value political science and government schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Marquette graduate students pay an average of $21,960 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Marquette also did well on our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

University of Illinois at Springfield ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the midsize city of Springfield, UIS is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UIS are $16,757 a year.

Full Political Science & Government at University of Illinois at Springfield Report

University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree political science and government programs. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UW - Madison are $25,501 a year.

UW - Madison also claimed a spot on our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Full Political Science & Government at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

With a ranking of #8, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. UWM is a very large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UWM are $25,651 a year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the town of Athens.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 a year.

Read More…

Loyola University Chicago came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 per year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Loyola University Chicago

Best Political Science & Government Colleges by State

Explore the best political science and government schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 1,044
Ohio 1,433
Illinois 1,470
Indiana 798
Wisconsin 925

Political Science & Government is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Political Science

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 49,055
Sociology 38,475
General Social Sciences 18,997
International Relations & National Security 14,306
Anthropology 11,415

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 26 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 UKWiki at English Wikipedia.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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