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2025 Best Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region

30 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
1,543 Journalism Degrees Awarded
$36,123 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in journalism, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #69 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 30 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for journalism students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,543 degrees in journalism to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Journalism School

Best Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of journalism school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for journalism schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Journalism Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Journalism
Master's Degrees in Journalism
Doctor's Degrees in Journalism

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Journalism Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Journalism in the Great Lakes Region

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the journalism degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Journalism

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
200 Journalism Degrees Awarded
$40,942 Median Starting Salary

University of Wisconsin - Madison is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in journalism. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were about 200 journalism students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the journalism major at University of Wisconsin - Madison earn $4,819 above the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in journalism from University of Wisconsin - Madison

2
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
106 Journalism Degrees Awarded
$36,912 Median Starting Salary

Michigan State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in journalism. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.

There were about 106 journalism students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the journalism program state that they receive average early career income of $36,912.

More information about a degree in journalism from Michigan State University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
121 Journalism Degrees Awarded
$39,992 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in journalism needs to look into Indiana University - Bloomington. IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.

There were roughly 121 journalism students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available. Those journalism students who get their degree from Indiana University - Bloomington earn $3,869 more than the average journalism graduate.

More information about a degree in journalism from Indiana University - Bloomington

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
160 Journalism Degrees Awarded
$38,246 Median Starting Salary

Ohio University - Athens Campus is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in journalism. OHIO Athens is a fairly large public university located in the town of Athens. A Best Colleges rank of #184 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means OHIO Athens is a great university overall.

There were about 160 journalism students who graduated with this degree at OHIO Athens in the most recent year we have data available. Those journalism students who get their degree from Ohio University - Athens Campus earn $2,123 more than the average journalism grad.

More information about a degree in journalism from Ohio University - Athens Campus

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
70 Journalism Degrees Awarded
24.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 70 journalism students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the journalism program state that they receive average early career wages of $36,303.

More information about a degree in journalism from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
92 Journalism Degrees Awarded
26.1% Growth in Graduates

Ball State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Muncie. A Best Colleges rank of #181 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ball State is a great university overall.

There were about 92 journalism students who graduated with this degree at Ball State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, journalism degree recipients usually make about $31,398 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in journalism from Ball State University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
59 Journalism Degrees Awarded
$39,864 Median Starting Salary

Kent State is a very large public university located in the suburb of Kent. This university ranks 9th out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were about 59 journalism students who graduated with this degree at Kent State in the most recent year we have data available. Journalism degree recipients from Kent State University at Kent get an earnings boost of around $3,741 above the typical earnings of journalism graduates.

More information about a degree in journalism from Kent State University at Kent

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$31,955 Median Starting Salary

Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Columbus. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 28 journalism students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the journalism program state that they receive average early career income of $31,955.

More information about a degree in journalism from Ohio State University - Main Campus

9
Marquette crest
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$38,700 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #114 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Marquette is a great university overall.

There were about 25 journalism students who graduated with this degree at Marquette in the most recent data year. Those journalism students who get their degree from Marquette University receive $2,577 more than the average journalism grad.

More information about a degree in journalism from Marquette University

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
40 Journalism Degrees Awarded
7.5% Growth in Graduates

Miami University - Oxford is a large public university located in the fringe town of Oxford. A Best Colleges rank of #134 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Miami University - Oxford is a great university overall.

There were about 40 journalism students who graduated with this degree at Miami University - Oxford in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the journalism program make an average of $32,840 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in journalism from Miami University - Oxford

Best Journalism Colleges by State

Explore the best journalism colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 322 245
Ohio 314 426
Illinois 304 332
Indiana 294 274
Wisconsin 273 325

View All Rankings >

Journalism is one of 5 different types of Communication & Journalism programs to choose from.

Journalism Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Journalism 1,450
Other Journalism 37
Photojournalism 36
Broadcast Journalism 20

View All Journalism Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 8,345
Public Relations & Advertising 3,498
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 3,493
Communication & Journalism (Other) 120
Publishing 2

View All Journalism Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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