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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

40 Colleges
$22,738 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$53,732 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences Master'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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 40 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for social sciences students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Social Sciences Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to be the best value school for social sciences students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

SIUE graduate students pay an average of $9,316 in tuition and fees each year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at Illinois State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . Illinois State is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

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

Illinois State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Illinois State University

The excellent master’s degree programs at Northern Illinois University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . 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.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Northern Illinois University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WIU are $12,182 a year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Akron Main Campus helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the midsize 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.

Read full report on Social Sciences at University of Akron Main Campus

#6

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

With a ranking of #6, Marquette University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social sciences students working on their master’s degree. Marquette is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Milwaukee.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Marquette are $21,960 per year.

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

Full Social Sciences at Marquette University Report

#7

Indiana State University

Terre Haute, IN

Indiana State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social sciences programs. Indiana State is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Terre Haute.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Indiana State are $15,562 a year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Indiana State University

University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. 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 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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University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social sciences programs. Located in the city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public college with a very large student population.

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

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

Loyola University Chicago came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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

Full Social Sciences at Loyola University Chicago Report

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 25 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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