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Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$41,380 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,270 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Policy 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for public policy students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 10 Best Public Policy Schools

$22,810 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Ohio University - Athens Campus to be the best value school for public policy students who want to pursue a degree in the Great Lakes Region . OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the distant town of Athens.

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

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$47,808 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Loyola University Chicago. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Loyola Chicago are $47,808 per year.

Read full report on Public Policy at Loyola University Chicago

#3

DePaul University

Chicago, IL
$42,012 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at DePaul are $42,012 per year.

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The excellent programs at University of Wisconsin - Madison helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best public policy schools in the Great Lakes Region . UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large 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 Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Public Policy at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

$32,101 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis is a great value for public policy students. IUPUI is a very large public school located in the large city of Indianapolis.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at IUPUI are $32,101 a year.

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

#6

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UChicago are $60,963 a year.

UChicago not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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$27,111 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UC are $27,111 a year.

Read full report on Public Policy at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

$30,370 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public policy students. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UIC are $30,370 a year.

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Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value public policy programs. Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at IU Bloomington are $38,352 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, IU Bloomington is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Public Policy at Indiana University - Bloomington

With a ranking of #10, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public policy students. U-M is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.

U-M undergraduate students pay an average of $55,097 in tuition and fees each year.

U-M also claimed a spot on our Best Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

Explore the best public policy schools 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 11 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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