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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

29 Colleges
$25,656 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$63,256 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree 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.

The Best Value Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 29 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for physical sciences majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Physical Sciences Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for physical sciences students who want to pursue a master’s degree 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.

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

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Illinois State University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Western Illinois University is a great value for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public college 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.

Full Physical Sciences at Western Illinois University Report

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 physical sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . NIU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Illinois Tech are $30,822 a year.

Read More…

Out of the 29 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 per year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Ohio University - Athens Campus

With a ranking of #6, University of Akron Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for physical sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public school with a large student population.

University of Akron Main Campus graduate students pay an average of $11,936 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Bowling Green State University - Main Campus landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physical sciences programs. BGSU is a fairly large public school located in the town of Bowling Green.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at BGSU are $15,823 a year.

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

University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree physical sciences programs. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a very large student population.

UW - Madison graduate students pay an average of $25,501 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UW - Madison is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at University of Wisconsin - Madison

#9

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, OH

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

Cleveland State University graduate students pay an average of $18,051 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Physical Sciences at Cleveland State University

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Physical Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UIUC are $30,862 a year.

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

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

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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