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

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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.

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

Check out the social sciences doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

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 suburb of Dekalb.

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

Full Social Sciences at Northern Illinois University Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Wisconsin - Madison helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . 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 graduate students at UW - Madison are $25,501 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UW - Madison also did well on our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Social Sciences at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Loyola University Chicago is a great value for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Loyola Chicago graduate students pay an average of $19,894 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Social Sciences at Loyola University Chicago Report

#4

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Out of the 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Purdue University - Main Campus landed the # 4 spot on the list. 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.

In addition to its great value ranking, Purdue is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Purdue University - Main Campus

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIUC are $30,862 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UIUC is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Social Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#6

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Michigan State is a very large public school located in the city of East Lansing.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Michigan State are $38,638 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Michigan State also did well on our Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Social Sciences at Michigan State University Report

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 very 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.

Full Social Sciences at Indiana University - Bloomington Report

#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 city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school 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.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Northwestern University

With a ranking of #9, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UWM are $25,651 per year.

Read More…

#9

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

University of Notre Dame came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame 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 Notre Dame are $58,662 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Notre Dame is ranked #4 for overall quality for social sciences in the Great Lakes Region .

Read More…

Best Social Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best social sciences colleges 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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