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Best Value Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

2023 Best Value Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

20 Colleges
$35,886 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$62,624 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences Doctor's Degree School for You

With 205,984 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, social sciences is the #6 most popular major in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for social sciences 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 Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Northern Illinois University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. NIU is a large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at NIU are $11,390 a year.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Wisconsin - Madison is a great value for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UW - Madison graduate students pay an average of $25,501 in tuition and fees each year.

UW - Madison also claimed a spot on our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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Out of the 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Loyola University Chicago landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 a year.

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#4

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Purdue University - Main Campus. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Purdue are $28,794 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Purdue also is in the top 10% of our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UIUC are $30,862 a year.

UIUC also claimed a spot on our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

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#6

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of East Lansing.

Michigan State graduate students pay an average of $38,638 in tuition and fees each year.

Michigan State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree social sciences programs. IU Bloomington is a fairly large public school located in the city of Bloomington.

IU Bloomington graduate students pay an average of $33,352 in tuition and fees each year.

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#8

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. 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 graduate students at Northwestern are $56,567 per year.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

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University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree social sciences programs. Located in the city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UWM graduate students pay an average of $25,651 in tuition and fees each year.

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#9

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

With a ranking of #9, University of Notre Dame did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Notre Dame graduate students pay an average of $58,662 in tuition and fees each year.

Notre Dame also took the #4 spot in our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

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Best Social Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best social sciences schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 2,941
Michigan 4,213
Ohio 4,915
Illinois 5,866
Wisconsin 3,504

Social Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Political Science & Government 49,282
Economics 49,055
Sociology 38,475
General Social Sciences 18,997
International Relations & National Security 14,306
Anthropology 11,415
Criminology 11,039
Geography & Cartography 8,526
Other Social Sciences 2,414
Urban Studies 1,507
Sociology & Anthropology 541
Archeology 339
Demography & Population Studies 88

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 327,871
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 20 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 AndrГ© KГјnzelmann.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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