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Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

28 Colleges
$32,688 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,195 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Political Science & Government School for You

Political Science & Government is the #75 most popular major in the country with 2,664 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 28 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for political science 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 Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Political Science & Government Colleges.

Top 10 Best Political Science & Government Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Illinois State University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for political science and government students. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Illinois State undergraduate students pay an average of $24,172 in tuition and fees each year.

Illinois State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Political Science & Government at Illinois State University Report

$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 28 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the # 2 spot on the list. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

WIU undergraduate students pay an average of $13,297 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Western Illinois University

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Northern Illinois University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best political science and government schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NIU are $14,738 per year.

Read More…

$11,880 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Akron Main Campus. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Akron Main Campus is a large public school located in the city of Akron.

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

Read More…

#5

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Marquette University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Marquette undergraduate students pay an average of $45,766 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Marquette also is in the top 10% of our Best Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Full Political Science & Government at Marquette University Report

$18,857 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Illinois at Springfield landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value political science and government programs. Located in the midsize city of Springfield, UIS is a public college with a small student population.

UIS undergraduate students pay an average of $18,857 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of Illinois at Springfield

University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value political science and government programs. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.

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 Political Science & Government Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Political Science & Government at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

$47,808 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, Loyola University Chicago did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students. 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.

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$22,810 Average Tuition & Fees

Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value political science and government programs. OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the distant town of Athens.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at OHIO Athens are $22,810 per year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Ohio University - Athens Campus

$21,475 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UWM are $21,475 per year.

Full Political Science & Government at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Report

Best Political Science & Government Colleges by State

Explore the best political science and government schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 53
Illinois 156
Ohio 59
Indiana 48
Wisconsin 40

Political Science & Government is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Political Science

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 6,173
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Sociology 1,907
Anthropology 1,446

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 UKWiki at English Wikipedia.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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