Food Science Technology isn't the most popular master's program in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #149 in popularity out of 343 majors in the country. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.
College Factual looked at 3 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Food Science Technology Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 149 master's degrees in food science technology to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Food Science Technology School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of food science technology for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality food science tech program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on food science technology students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other food science technology students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for food science technology to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized food science technology related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for food science technology students working on their master's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Food Science Technology Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Food Science Technology in the Great Lakes Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in food science technology.
Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Master's in Food Science Tech
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in food science technology needs to look into Michigan State University. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the food science tech program report average early career earnings of $92,232.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great decision for students interested in a master's degree in food science technology. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the food science tech program state that they receive average early career earnings of $89,713.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).