2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for General Education (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Education Schools for an Associate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

General Education is the 35th most popular major in the country with 29,936 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, general education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $47,138 and had an average of $29,674 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 3,216 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $42,306 and $27,810 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 249 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,508 and $17,812 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Education Schools for an Associate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in general education. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general education programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the general education program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 Value Education Schools for an Associate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Education Schools for an Associate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region associate degree education students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for General Education (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region

#1

Ivy Tech Community College

Indianapolis, Indiana

#1 in overall quality

$5,397 Average Net Price

$17,901 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Education Schools for an Associate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Ivy Tech Community College landed the #1 spot on the list. Indianapolis, Indiana is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s education degrees to 204 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region associate degree education students whose families make $0-$30k list, Ivy Tech Community College has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Education Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Ivy Tech Community College is $5,397 for great lakes region associate degree education students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about General Education at Ivy Tech Community College

#2

Stark State College

North Canton, Ohio

#2 in overall quality

$6,491 Average Net Price

$18,771 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Education Schools for an Associate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Stark State College landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in North Canton, Ohio, this fairly large public school handed out 16 degrees to qualified associates’s education students in 2019-2020.

Stark State College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Education Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Stark State College is $6,491 for Great Lakes Region Associate Degree Education students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on General Education at Stark State College

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for General Education (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO.

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