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Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

44 Colleges
$22,950 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$35,036 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Media Studies School for You

Communication & Media Studies is the #47 most popular major in the country with 5,059 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 44 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for communications students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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.

2023 Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for communications majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Communication & Media Studies Schools

$27,786 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Columbia College Chicago the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for communication and media studies students. Columbia is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Columbia are $27,786 per year.

Full Communication & Media Studies at Columbia College Chicago Report

#2

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI
$31,080 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Spring Arbor University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Spring Arbor is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Spring Arbor are $31,080 per year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at Spring Arbor University

#3

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH
$9,732 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Youngstown State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the city of Youngstown.

Youngstown State University undergraduate students pay an average of $9,732 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at Youngstown State University

Out of the 44 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Illinois State undergraduate students pay an average of $24,172 in tuition and fees each year.

Illinois State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at Illinois State University

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NIU are $14,738 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at Northern Illinois University

#6

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

With a ranking of #6, University of Dayton did quite well on this year’s best value schools for communication and media studies students. UDayton is a large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Dayton.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UDayton are $44,890 per year.

UDayton excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Communication & Media Studies at University of Dayton Report

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for communication and media studies students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a fairly large student population.

SIUE undergraduate students pay an average of $11,496 in tuition and fees each year.

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$14,349 Average Tuition & Fees

Purdue University Northwest landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value communication and media studies programs. Purdue Northwest is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Hammond.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Purdue Northwest are $14,349 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at Purdue University Northwest

With a ranking of #9, University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well on this year’s best value schools for communication and media studies students. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.

UW - Madison undergraduate students pay an average of $38,608 in tuition and fees each year.

UW - Madison also claimed a spot on our Best Communication & Media Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Communication & Media Studies at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

$11,880 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Akron Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for communication and media studies students. It came in at #9 on the list. University of Akron Main Campus is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Akron.

University of Akron Main Campus undergraduate students pay an average of $11,880 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at University of Akron Main Campus

Best Communication & Media Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best communication and media studies schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 163
Illinois 270
Ohio 100
Indiana 304
Wisconsin 58

One of 5 majors within the area of study, communication and media studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Communications

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Relations & Advertising 2,828
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 2,562
Journalism 1,238
Communication & Journalism (Other) 341
Publishing 214

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 UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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