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Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

27 Colleges
$32,045 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$42,323 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physical Sciences School for You

Physical Sciences is the #16 most popular major in the country with 12,705 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 27 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for physical sciences students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 10 Best Physical Sciences Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Illinois State University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for physical sciences students. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Illinois State are $24,172 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Illinois State also is in the top 20% of our Best Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Full Physical Sciences at Illinois State University Report

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Northern Illinois University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best physical sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . NIU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.

NIU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,738 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Northern Illinois University

$50,375 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 27 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois Institute of Technology landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Illinois Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $50,375 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Illinois Institute of Technology

$22,810 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Ohio University - Athens Campus. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the distant town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at OHIO Athens are $22,810 a year.

Full Physical Sciences at Ohio University - Athens Campus Report

$21,050 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bowling Green State University - Main Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. BGSU is a large public school located in the town of Bowling Green.

BGSU undergraduate students pay an average of $21,050 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Physical Sciences at Bowling Green State University - Main Campus Report

$11,880 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Akron Main Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,880 per year.

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

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIUC are $37,632 per year.

UIUC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UW - Madison are $38,608 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UW - Madison also did well on our Best Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

#9

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, OH
$16,654 Average Tuition & Fees

Cleveland State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for physical sciences students. It came in at #9 on the list. Cleveland State University is a large public school located in the city of Cleveland.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cleveland State University are $16,654 per year.

Read More…

#10

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for physical sciences students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student 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 Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Purdue University - Main Campus

Best Physical Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best physical sciences schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 588
Indiana 270
Ohio 536
Wisconsin 210
Michigan 415

Physical Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 5,005
Physics 3,727
Geological & Earth Sciences 2,491
Materials Sciences 448
Astronomy & Astrophysics 371
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 342
Other Physical Science 191
General Physical Sciences 107
Physics and Astronomy 23

Related Major Annual Graduates
Engineering 61,791
Computer & Information Sciences 60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 28,851
Mathematics & Statistics 15,127
Engineering Technologies 7,672

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 NASA.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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