2025 Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region
124Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
35,887Liberal Studies Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in liberal arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual looked at 124 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 35,887 degrees in liberal arts annually.
Your choice of liberal arts 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 liberal arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
The liberal studies 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 the Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region.
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.
Best Schools for Liberal Arts in the Great Lakes Region
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the liberal studies degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
24 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Liberal Studies
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in liberal arts. Located in the midsize city of Green Bay, UW - Green Bay is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 30th out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were roughly 127 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at UW - Green Bay in the most recent year we have data available.
Every student who is interested in liberal arts has to take a look at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. Located in the town of Whitewater, UW - Whitewater is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #400 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW - Whitewater is a great university overall.
There were roughly 27 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at UW - Whitewater in the most recent data year.
It's difficult to beat University of Notre Dame if you wish to pursue a degree in liberal arts. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were approximately 32 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year.
It's hard to beat Vincennes University if you want to pursue a degree in liberal arts. Located in the remote town of Vincennes, Vincennes University is a public university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #365 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Vincennes University is a great university overall.
There were roughly 562 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Vincennes University in the most recent year we have data available.
LLCC is a moderately-sized public college located in the rural area of Springfield. A Best Colleges rank of #437 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means LLCC is a great college overall.
There were approximately 410 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at LLCC in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were about 189 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent data year.
Ivy Tech Community College is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Indianapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #173 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ivy Tech Community College is a great college overall.
There were about 324 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Ivy Tech Community College in the most recent data year.
Located in the small city of Muncie, Ball State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #181 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ball State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 171 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Ball State in the most recent data year.
Cincinnati State is a moderately-sized public college located in the city of Cincinnati. A Best Colleges rank of #477 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cincinnati State is a great college overall.
There were roughly 265 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Cincinnati State in the most recent data year.
Located in the midsize city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 23rd out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were approximately 233 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at University of Akron Main Campus in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Milwaukee, Alverno is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 21st out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were approximately 18 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Alverno in the most recent data year.
Waubonsee is a medium-sized public college located in the rural area of Sugar Grove. This college ranks 22nd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 454 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Waubonsee in the most recent data year.
Located in the large city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga Community College District is a public college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #468 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cuyahoga Community College District is a great college overall.
There were roughly 1312 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Cuyahoga Community College District in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the suburb of Palatine, Harper College is a public college with a fairly large student population. This college ranks 25th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 1706 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Harper College in the most recent data year.
Macomb Community College is a fairly large public college located in the medium-sized city of Warren. This college ranks 12th out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 277 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Macomb Community College in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Cincinnati, Xavier is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #277 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Xavier is a great university overall.
There were approximately 47 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Xavier in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large suburb of Auburn Hills, Oakland Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population. This college ranks 22nd out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 369 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Oakland Community College in the most recent year we have data available.
Illinois State is a very large public university located in the suburb of Normal. A Best Colleges rank of #210 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Illinois State is a great university overall.
There were about 24 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Illinois State in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the suburb of Grayslake, College of Lake County is a public college with a fairly large student population. This college ranks 16th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 1787 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at College of Lake County in the most recent data year.
Madison College is a large public college located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #223 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Madison College is a great college overall.
There were about 408 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Madison College in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Community College is a public college with a large student population. This college ranks 18th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 442 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Grand Rapids Community College in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the rural area of University Center, Delta College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 19th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were roughly 217 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at Delta College in the most recent year we have data available.
ECC is a moderately-sized public college located in the city of Elgin. This college ranks 26th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 1019 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at ECC in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large suburb of South Holland, SSC is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 27th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 249 liberal arts students who graduated with this degree at SSC in the most recent year we have data available.
Rest of the Top Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Liberal Arts students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
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).
Your choice of liberal arts 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 liberal arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
