2023 Best Value Sociology Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Sociology Master's Degree School for You
Sociology is the #27 most popular major in the country with 38,475 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Sociology Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 31 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for sociology students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
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.
Top 10 Best Sociology Master's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Southern Illinois University Edwardsville the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for sociology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 a year.
Read full report on Sociology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Request Information
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 a year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Illinois State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.
Full Sociology at Illinois State University Report
Request Information
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.
Request Information
Out of the 31 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the # 4 spot on the list. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Macomb.
WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in tuition and fees each year.
Full Sociology at Western Illinois University Report
Request Information
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.
UW - Madison graduate students pay an average of $25,501 in tuition and fees each year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UW - Madison also is in the top 5% of our Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.
Full Sociology at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report
Request Information
Loyola University Chicago ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 per year.
Read full report on Sociology at Loyola University Chicago
Request Information
Bowling Green State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for sociology students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at BGSU are $15,823 a year.
Request Information
With a ranking of #8, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well on this year’s best value schools for sociology students working on their master’s degree. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UWM are $25,651 per year.
Full Sociology at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Report
Request Information
Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree sociology programs. OHIO Athens is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Athens.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 per year.
Full Sociology at Ohio University - Athens Campus Report
Request Information
With a ranking of #10, Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for sociology students working on their master’s degree. Purdue is a very large public school located in the city of West Lafayette.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Purdue are $28,794 a year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Purdue also is in the top 10% of our Best Sociology Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.
Request InformationBest Sociology Colleges by State
Explore the best sociology colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 551 |
| Ohio | 702 |
| Illinois | 841 |
| Indiana | 471 |
| Wisconsin | 504 |
More Sociology Rankings in the Great Lakes Region
Majors Related to Sociology
Sociology is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Sociology
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Political Science & Government | 49,282 |
| Economics | 49,055 |
| General Social Sciences | 18,997 |
| International Relations & National Security | 14,306 |
| Anthropology | 11,415 |
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 Kontos.
More about our data sources and methodologies.