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Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

51 Colleges
$24,398 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$34,371 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Journalism School for You

Communication & Journalism is the #17 most popular major in the country with 12,242 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 51 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for communication and journalism 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 & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 10 Best Communication & Journalism Schools

$27,786 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Columbia College Chicago to be the best value school for communication and journalism students who want to pursue a degree in the Great Lakes Region . Columbia is a moderately-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.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Columbia College Chicago

#2

Ashland University

Ashland, OH
$23,090 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 51 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ashland University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Ashland is a small private not-for-profit school located in the fringe town of Ashland.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Ashland are $23,090 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Ashland University

#3

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 #3 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism 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.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Spring Arbor are $31,080 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Spring Arbor University

#4

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH
$9,732 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 51 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Youngstown State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the city of Youngstown.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Youngstown State University are $9,732 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Youngstown State University

The excellent programs at Illinois State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best communication and journalism schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Illinois State are $24,172 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Illinois State also did well on our Best Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

Northern Illinois University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

Full Communication & Journalism at Northern Illinois University Report

#7

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

University of Dayton ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UDayton is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Dayton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UDayton are $44,890 a year.

UDayton also claimed a spot on our Best Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Full Communication & Journalism at University of Dayton Report

#8

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso, IN
$44,796 Average Tuition & Fees

Valparaiso University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Valparaiso, Valpo is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Valpo are $44,796 per year.

Read More…

#9

John Carroll University

University Heights, OH

John Carroll University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for communication and journalism students. It came in at #9 on the list. John Carroll is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of University Heights.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at John Carroll are $45,514 per year.

Full Communication & Journalism at John Carroll University 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 journalism students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

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

Full Communication & Journalism at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

Best Communication & Journalism Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 757
Indiana 391
Ohio 199
Wisconsin 75
Michigan 298

Communication & Journalism Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 5,059
Public Relations & Advertising 2,828
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 2,562
Journalism 1,238
Communication & Journalism (Other) 341
Publishing 214

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 199,724
Psychology 42,013
Social Sciences 22,292
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

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 Josh Hallett.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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