2025 Best Public Relations & Advertising Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Public Relations & Advertising is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #60 most popular master's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 7 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of public relations & advertising. Combined, these schools handed out 172 master's degrees in public relations & advertising to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Public Relations & Advertising School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of public relations & advertising for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. 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 public relations & advertising students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other public relations & advertising 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 much debt public relations & advertising students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized public relations & advertising related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public relations & advertising students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Public Relations & Advertising 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 Public Relations & Advertising in the Great Lakes Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for public relations & advertising students seeking a a master's degree.

Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Master's in Public Relations

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

27 Annual Graduates

$82,421 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in public relations & advertising needs to look into Northwestern University. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.

Master's recipients from the public relations & advertising degree program at Northwestern University earn $15,165 above the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in public relations & advertising from Northwestern University

2

Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

18 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Michigan State University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in public relations & advertising. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in public relations & advertising from Michigan State University

3

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

27 Annual Graduates

$61,463 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in public relations & advertising has to take a look at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public relations program state that they receive average early career earnings of $61,463.

More information about a master’s in public relations & advertising from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

4

DePaul University
Chicago, IL

23 Annual Graduates

$57,884 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat DePaul University if you want to pursue a master's degree in public relations & advertising. Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the public relations program earn an average of $57,884 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in public relations & advertising from DePaul University

5

Ohio University - Athens Campus
Athens, OH

34 Annual Graduates

OHIO Athens is a very large public university located in the distant town of Athens.More information about a master’s in public relations & advertising from Ohio University - Athens Campus

6

Butler University
Indianapolis, IN

11 Annual Graduates

Butler is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Indianapolis.More information about a master’s in public relations & advertising from Butler University

7

Ball State University
Muncie, IN

10 Annual Graduates

Ball State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Muncie.More information about a master’s in public relations & advertising from Ball State University

Best Public Relations & Advertising Colleges by State

Explore the best public relations & advertising schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Illinois	221	105
Michigan	211	23
Ohio	207	35
Indiana	191	24
Wisconsin	173	0

View All Rankings >

Public Relations & Advertising Related Rankings by Major

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

Public Relations Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Health Communication	60
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	30
General Organizational Communication	19
Advertising	19
International & Intercultural Communication	18
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	10
Public Relations	8
Sports Communication	5
Communication Management and Strategic Communications	3

Most Popular Majors Related to Public Relations

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	613
Communication & Media Studies	561
Journalism	92
Communication & Journalism (Other)	4

Notes and References

• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Bill Koplitz. More about our data sources and methodologies.