2025 Best Mathematics Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Ranked #25 in popularity, mathematics is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 38 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for mathematics students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,851 bachelor's degrees in mathematics during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Mathematics School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Your choice of mathematics for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality math program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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 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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor'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 many resources a school devotes to mathematics students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other mathematics students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor'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 easy is it for mathematics to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized mathematics related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for mathematics students working on their bachelor'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 Mathematics Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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 Bachelor’s Students to Study Mathematics in the Great Lakes Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Math

1

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

181 Annual Graduates

$100,421 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in mathematics has to look into University of Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the mathematics degree program at University of Chicago earn $45,311 above the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Chicago

2

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

72 Annual Graduates

$79,530 Median Starting Salary

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.

Mathematics bachelor's degree recipients from Northwestern University earn a boost of about $24,420 above the average income of mathematics majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Northwestern University

3

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI

211 Annual Graduates

$80,676 Median Starting Salary

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in mathematics. U-M is a very large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor.

Bachelor's recipients from the mathematics program at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor make $25,566 more than the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

4

University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN

38 Annual Graduates

$65,302 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of Notre Dame if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the mathematics major at University of Notre Dame get $10,192 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Notre Dame

5

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

237 Annual Graduates

$67,744 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Mathematics bachelor's degree recipients from University of Wisconsin - Madison receive an earnings boost of around $12,634 above the average income of mathematics majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Wisconsin - Madison

6

Ohio State University - Main Campus
Columbus, OH

158 Annual Graduates

$52,921 Median Starting Salary

Ohio State is a very large public university located in the large city of Columbus.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the math program report average early career wages of $52,921.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Ohio State University - Main Campus

7

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

141 Annual Graduates

$48,728 Median Starting Salary

$46,422 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the math program earn around $48,728 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

8

Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

86 Annual Graduates

$47,951 Median Starting Salary

$42,922 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduating, math bachelor's recipients typically earn around $47,951 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Michigan State University

9

Purdue University - Main Campus
West Lafayette, IN

79 Annual Graduates

$49,387 Median Starting Salary

Purdue is a very large public university located in the city of West Lafayette.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the math program make an average of $49,387 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Purdue University - Main Campus

10

Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute, IN

10 Annual Graduates

$85,977 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Terre Haute, Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Those mathematics students who get their bachelor's degree from Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology receive $30,867 more than the average math graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology

Best Mathematics Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	261	602
Ohio	252	683
Illinois	241	834
Indiana	235	483
Wisconsin	213	596

View All Rankings >

Mathematics Related Rankings by Major

Mathematics is one of 4 different types of Mathematics & Statistics programs to choose from.

Math Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
General Mathematics	2,850
Other Mathematics	1

Majors Similar to Math

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Statistics	1,261
Applied Mathematics	354
Other Statistics	131

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.