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2025 Best Communication Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

14 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
240 Doctor's Degrees
$74,486 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #30 in popularity, communication sciences is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 14 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Communication Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 240 doctor's degrees in communication sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Communication Sciences School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Communication Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region The communication sciences doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality communication sciences program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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 for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's 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.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for communication sciences students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Communication Sciences Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Communication Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Communication Sciences in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in communication sciences.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Doctorate in Communication Sciences

1

It's difficult to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in communication sciences. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Communication Sciences doctor's degree recipients from Northwestern University receive an earnings boost of about $7,548 over the average income of communication sciences graduates.

More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from Northwestern University

2
12 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in communication sciences has to take a look at University of Wisconsin - Madison. UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison.More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from University of Wisconsin - Madison

3

Ohio State University - Main Campus is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in communication sciences. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population.

Doctorate students who receive their degree from the communication sciences program earn about $64,841 in their early career salary.

More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from Ohio State University - Main Campus

4
12 Annual Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in communication sciences. UIUC is a very large public university located in the city of Champaign.More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

5
18 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

6
12 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from Indiana University - Bloomington

7
Rush University crest
Rush University
Chicago, IL

Rush University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Those communication sciences students who get their doctor's degree from Rush University receive $6,300 more than the typical communication sciences grad.

More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from Rush University

8
11 Annual Graduates

Located in the distant town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from Ohio University - Athens Campus

9
Central Michigan crest
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI

Located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public university with a large student population.

Doctorate students who receive their degree from the communication sciences program make about $74,265 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from Central Michigan University

10
13 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Detroit, Wayne State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in communication sciences from Wayne State University

Best Communication Sciences Colleges by State

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Illinois 153 76
Michigan 149 33
Ohio 144 61
Indiana 132 35
Wisconsin 108 18

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One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Communication Sciences has other similar majors worth exploring.

Communication Sciences Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Audiology/Audiologist 115
Speech Pathology & Audiology 91
Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist 24
General Communication Sciences & Disorders 10

Related Major Annual Graduates
Medicine 4,798
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 2,227
Nursing 2,185
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 2,002
Dentistry 1,011
Optometry 359
Medical Science 108
Public Health 99
Chiropractic 65
Other Health Professions 55

Notes and References

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