2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid
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 a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2019-2020, 29,936 people earned their degree in general education, making the major the 35th most popular in the United States. 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 bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 1,058 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,075 and $25,381 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 42 colleges that offered a degree in general education. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent general education programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general education program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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One Size Does Not Fit All
The education school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid”.
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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid
The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Top 25 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education in the Great Lakes Region (With Aid)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Wisconsin - Green Bay is a medium-sized school located in Green Bay, Wisconsin that handed out 74 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
UW - Green Bay not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UW - Green Bay is $14,395 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Read full report on General Education at University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 13 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
UIUC also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $15,880 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign General Education Report
Out of the 42 schools in the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Purdue University - Main Campus landed the #3 spot on the list. Purdue is a large public school situated in West Lafayette, Indiana. It awarded 12 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
Purdue did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $13,986 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid per year to attend Purdue.
The low student loan default rate of 2.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Michigan State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid. Michigan State is a large school located in East Lansing, Michigan that handed out 157 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Michigan State, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $19,173 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid per year to attend Michigan State University.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Out of the 42 schools in the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee landed the #5 spot on the list. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s education degrees to 153 students in 2019-2020.
UWM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #12 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $17,876 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid per year to attend UWM.
Read more about General Education at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Grand Valley State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. GVSU is a public institution located in Allendale, Michigan. The school has a large population, and it awarded 221 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
GVSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for GVSU is $17,646 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid.
The low student loan default rate of 3.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about General Education at Grand Valley State University
University of Michigan - Dearborn ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Michigan - Dearborn is a public institution located in Dearborn, Michigan. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The yearly cost to attend University of Michigan - Dearborn is $11,473 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Education at University of Michigan - Dearborn
With a ranking of #8, Manchester University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. North Manchester, Indiana is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s education degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.
Manchester University also took the #25 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $17,557 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid per year to attend Manchester University.
Alverno College landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s education degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.
Alverno also made our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #19. It costs about $15,491 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid per year to attend Alverno College.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Concordia University, Chicago landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Concordia University, Chicago is located in River Forest, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.
The yearly cost to attend Concordia University, Chicago is $16,512 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Illinois College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. Illinois College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Jacksonville, Illinois. It awarded 2 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for Illinois College is $16,562 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Mount St. Joseph University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #12. Mount St. Joseph University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school has a small population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Mount St. Joe also took the #24 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Mount St. Joe is $21,913 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Read more about General Education at Mount St. Joseph University
Kent State University at Kent did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #13. This large school is located in Kent, Ohio, and it awarded 95 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
It costs about $18,885 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid per year to attend Kent State University at Kent.
Read full report on General Education at Kent State University at Kent
With a ranking of #14, Ohio Dominican University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. ODU is located in Columbus, Ohio and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 8 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.
The estimated yearly cost for ODU is $19,960 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid.
With a ranking of #15, Marietta College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. Marietta College is a small school located in Marietta, Ohio that handed out 6 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
Marietta not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #23 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $20,786 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid per year to attend Marietta College.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
With a ranking of #16, Beloit College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Beloit, Wisconsin, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 16 degrees to qualified bachelors’s education students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid list, Beloit has also earned the #11 rank in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Beloit College is $11,433 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of Evansville came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. University of Evansville is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evansville, Indiana. The school has a small population, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
UE not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #16 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for UE is $21,626 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read full report on General Education at University of Evansville
With a ranking of #18, Hiram College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. Hiram is located in Hiram, Ohio and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 11 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.
The yearly cost to attend Hiram is $21,294 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid.
Wilmington College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #19. Wilmington College is located in Wilmington, Ohio and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 30 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.
Wilmington College also made our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #20. The estimated yearly cost for Wilmington College is $21,216 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Marian University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Marian is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Indianapolis, Indiana. It awarded 8 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for Marian University is $19,658 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Baker College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #21. This medium-sized school is located in Owosso, Michigan, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.
The yearly cost to attend Baker College is $15,049 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Siena Heights University landed the #22 spot on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Adrian, Michigan is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s education degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.
It costs about $21,249 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid per year to attend Siena Heights University.
Read more about General Education at Siena Heights University
With a ranking of #23, University of Saint Francis - Fort Wayne did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Saint Francis - Fort Wayne is located in Fort Wayne, Indiana and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.
It costs about $17,796 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid per year to attend University of St. Francis Fort Wayne.
Read full report on General Education at University of Saint Francis - Fort Wayne
Greenville University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. Greenville is a private not-for-profit institution located in Greenville, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
The estimated yearly cost for Greenville University is $20,689 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid.
Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Elmhurst University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #25. Elmhurst University is located in Elmhurst, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.
In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree education students with aid list, Elmhurst has also earned the #22 rank in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst University is $21,485 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Education students with aid.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
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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.
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- Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO.
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