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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

40 Colleges
$22,738 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$53,732 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences Master's Degree 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 40 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for social sciences 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. 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the social sciences master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Southern Illinois University Edwardsville the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for social sciences students working on their master’s degree. SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

Full Social Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

The excellent master’s degree programs at Illinois State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social sciences schools in the Great Lakes Region . Illinois State is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $11,773 in tuition and fees each year.

Illinois State also claimed a spot on our Best Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Illinois State University

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

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at NIU are $11,390 a year.

Full Social Sciences at Northern Illinois University Report

Out of the 40 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the 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.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Western Illinois University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Akron Main Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,936 a year.

Full Social Sciences at University of Akron Main Campus Report

#6

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

Marquette University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Marquette is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Milwaukee.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Marquette are $21,960 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Marquette is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Social Sciences at Marquette University Report

#7

Indiana State University

Terre Haute, IN

With a ranking of #7, Indiana State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social sciences students working on their master’s degree. Indiana State is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Terre Haute.

Indiana State graduate students pay an average of $15,562 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Indiana State University

University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college 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 claimed a spot on our Best Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

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University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UWM are $25,651 a year.

Full Social Sciences at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Report

With a ranking of #10, Loyola University Chicago did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 a year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Loyola University Chicago

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 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 AndrГ© KГјnzelmann.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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