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Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

20 Colleges
$30,537 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$51,829 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate 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 Graduate Certificate 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 graduate certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the social sciences graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso, IN

Our analysis found Valparaiso University to be the best value school for social sciences students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the Great Lakes Region . Valpo is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Valparaiso.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Valpo are $12,220 a year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Valparaiso University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Western Illinois University

The excellent graduate certificate programs at University of Wisconsin - Madison helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the 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.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UW - Madison is ranked #5 for overall quality for social sciences in the Great Lakes Region .

Read More…

#4

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Purdue University - Main Campus is a great value for social sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Purdue are $28,794 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Purdue also did well on our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Social Sciences at Purdue University - Main Campus Report

#5

Ball State University

Muncie, IN

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Ball State University is a great value for social sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Muncie, Ball State is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ball State are $26,600 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Ball State also is in the top 10% of our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Ball State University

#6

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, IL

Elmhurst University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Elmhurst are $32,800 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Elmhurst also did well on our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Social Sciences at Elmhurst University Report

Wright State University - Main Campus came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate 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.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Wright State University - Main Campus are $24,286 a year.

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Indiana University - Bloomington did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. IU Bloomington is a very large public school located in the city of Bloomington.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at IU Bloomington are $33,352 per year.

IU Bloomington excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Indiana University - Bloomington

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public college with a very large student population.

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

Read full report on Social Sciences at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

#10

Western Michigan University

Kalamazoo, MI

Western Michigan University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate social sciences programs. WMU is a large public school located in the small city of Kalamazoo.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WMU are $26,248 a year.

Read More…

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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