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Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

20 Colleges
$30,537 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$51,829 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate School for You

With 22,292 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, social sciences is the #10 most popular major in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for social sciences 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. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for social sciences majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Top 10 Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso, IN

Our 2023 rankings named Valparaiso University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for social sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Valpo is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Valparaiso.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Valpo are $12,220 per year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Valparaiso University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Western Illinois University is a great value for social sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Western Illinois University

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Wisconsin - Madison is a great value for social sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the 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.

UW - Madison also took the #5 spot in our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

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

#4

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Purdue University - Main Campus. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Purdue are $28,794 per year.

Purdue also claimed a spot on our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Full Social Sciences at Purdue University - Main Campus Report

#5

Ball State University

Muncie, IN

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ball State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small city of Muncie, Ball State is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Ball State are $26,600 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Ball State also did well on our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

#6

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, IL

Elmhurst University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the large suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Elmhurst are $32,800 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Elmhurst also did well on our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

With a ranking of #7, Wright State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Wright State University - Main Campus is a large public school located in the suburb of Dayton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Wright State University - Main Campus are $24,286 a year.

Full Social Sciences at Wright State University - Main Campus Report

Indiana University - Bloomington came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. IU Bloomington is a very large public school located in the city of Bloomington.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at IU Bloomington are $33,352 a year.

IU Bloomington excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Indiana University - Bloomington

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UWM are $25,651 per year.

Full Social Sciences at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Report

#10

Western Michigan University

Kalamazoo, MI

Western Michigan University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. WMU is a large public school located in the city of Kalamazoo.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WMU are $26,248 a year.

Read More…

Best Social Sciences Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 1,111
Indiana 290
Ohio 575
Wisconsin 518
Michigan 441

Social Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Economics 6,173
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Political Science & Government 2,664
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Sociology 1,907
Anthropology 1,446
Criminology 936
General Social Sciences 745
Other Social Sciences 532
Urban Studies 432
Archeology 66
Demography & Population Studies 66

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 199,724
Psychology 42,013
Communication & Journalism 12,242
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 20 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 AndrГ© KГјnzelmann.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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