2025 Best Accounting Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Ranked #13 in popularity,
accounting is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 44 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Accounting Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,910 associate degrees in accounting during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Accounting School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of accounting for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality accounting program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on accounting students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other accounting students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for accounting to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized accounting related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for accounting students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Accounting Schools
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Accounting Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Accounting in the Great Lakes Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in accounting.
10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for an Associate in Accounting
Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global is a great decision for students pursuing an associate degree in accounting. IWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Marion.
Associate recipients from the accounting degree program at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global make $12,665 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a associate in accounting from Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global
Gateway Technical College is a wonderful decision for students pursuing an associate degree in accounting. Gateway Technical College is a fairly large public college located in the small city of Kenosha.
Those accounting students who get their associate degree from Gateway Technical College receive $2,516 more than the typical accounting grad.
More information about a associate in accounting from Gateway Technical College
Madison Area Technical College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in accounting. Madison College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Madison.
Those accounting students who get their associate degree from Madison Area Technical College receive $5,422 more than the standard accounting graduate.
More information about a associate in accounting from Madison Area Technical College
It's hard to beat Ivy Tech Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in accounting. Ivy Tech Community College is a very large public college located in the large city of Indianapolis.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the accounting program make an average of $36,241 in the first couple years of their career.
More information about a associate in accounting from Ivy Tech Community College
Located in the suburb of Appleton, FVTC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the accounting program make around $41,261 in their early career salary.
More information about a associate in accounting from Fox Valley Technical College