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Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

5 Colleges
$37,057 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$63,791 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Policy Graduate Certificate School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, public policy was ranked #61 in the country. In fact 3,737 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 5 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for public policy 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 Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Best Great Lakes Region Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Public Policy

Our 2023 rankings named Ohio University - Athens Campus the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for public policy students working on their graduate certificate. OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the town of Athens.

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

Full Public Policy at Ohio University - Athens Campus Report

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Chicago is a great value for public policy students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UChicago are $63,936 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UChicago is ranked #3 for overall quality for public policy in the Great Lakes Region .

Full Public Policy at University of Chicago Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Cincinnati - Main Campus. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UC graduate students pay an average of $26,644 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Policy at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Report

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public policy schools in the Great Lakes Region . IUPUI is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Indianapolis.

IUPUI graduate students pay an average of $26,529 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Policy at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at U-M are $50,464 a year. On average, public policy graduates from U-M take out $16,931 in student loans while working on their Graduate Certificate.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, U-M also is in the top 10% of our Best Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read full report on Public Policy at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

Explore the best public policy colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 170
Illinois 350
Ohio 15
Indiana 8
Wisconsin 29

Public Policy is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 33,631
Public Administration 13,571
Human Services 1,277
Community Organization & Advocacy 741
Other Public Administration 295

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 5 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 The Official CTBTO Photostream.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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