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2025 Best Health & Physical Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

92 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
7,237 Bachelor's Degrees
$31,775 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #9 in popularity, health & physical education is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 92 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Health & Physical Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 7,237 bachelor's degrees in health & physical education to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Health & Physical Education School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Health & Physical Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of health & physical education for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality phys ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for health & physical education students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Health & Physical Education Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Phys Ed Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The phys ed 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 Health & Physical Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Health & Physical Education in the Great Lakes Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in health & physical education. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

18 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Phys Ed

1
279 Annual Graduates
$43,506 Median Starting Salary
$51,876 Median Student Debt

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in health & physical education needs to check out University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. U-M is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.

Bachelor's recipients from the health & physical education major at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earn $11,731 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

2
395 Annual Graduates
$35,873 Median Starting Salary
$34,154 Median Student Debt

Indiana University - Bloomington is a great decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in health & physical education. IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington.

Bachelor's recipients from the health & physical education program at Indiana University - Bloomington get $4,098 more than the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Indiana University - Bloomington

3
167 Annual Graduates
$36,592 Median Starting Salary
$27,480 Median Student Debt

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in health & physical education needs to take a look at Ohio State University - Main Campus. Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Columbus.

Bachelor's recipients from the health & physical education program at Ohio State University - Main Campus earn $4,817 more than the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Ohio State University - Main Campus

4
257 Annual Graduates
$40,486 Median Starting Salary
$50,620 Median Student Debt

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in health & physical education needs to check out Miami University - Oxford. Miami University - Oxford is a fairly large public university located in the town of Oxford.

Health & Physical Education bachelor's degree recipients from Miami University - Oxford get an earnings boost of about $8,711 above the average income of health & physical education majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Miami University - Oxford

5

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

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the phys ed program earn around $29,866 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from University of Wisconsin - Madison

6
176 Annual Graduates
$31,187 Median Starting Salary
$39,899 Median Student Debt

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

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the phys ed program earn an average of $31,187 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

7
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
298 Annual Graduates
$28,045 Median Starting Salary
$46,124 Median Student Debt

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

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the phys ed program state that they receive average early career earnings of $28,045.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Michigan State University

8
Carroll U crest
Carroll University
Waukesha, WI
118 Annual Graduates
$33,333 Median Starting Salary
$33,421 Median Student Debt

Carroll U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Waukesha.

After graduating, phys ed bachelor's recipients generally earn about $33,333 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Carroll University

9
Central Michigan crest
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI
189 Annual Graduates
$32,850 Median Starting Salary
$23,765 Median Student Debt

Central Michigan is a fairly large public university located in the town of Mount Pleasant.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the phys ed program report average early career earnings of $32,850.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Central Michigan University

10
93 Annual Graduates
$35,500 Median Starting Salary
$29,355 Median Student Debt

Ball State is a very large public university located in the city of Muncie.

Health & Physical Education bachelor's degree recipients from Ball State University receive an earnings boost of approximately $3,725 above the typical income of health & physical education graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Ball State University

11
102 Annual Graduates
$35,165 Median Starting Salary
$34,454 Median Student Debt

OHIO Athens is a fairly large public university located in the distant town of Athens.

Bachelor's recipients from the health & physical education program at Ohio University - Athens Campus earn $3,390 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Ohio University - Athens Campus

12
187 Annual Graduates
$30,993 Median Starting Salary
$18,513 Median Student Debt

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

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the phys ed program make an average of $30,993 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

13

Concordia University, Chicago is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of River Forest.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the phys ed program report average early career wages of $29,231.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Concordia University, Chicago

14
235 Annual Graduates
$29,913 Median Starting Salary
$27,460 Median Student Debt

Located in the town of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the phys ed program report average early career income of $29,913.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Grand Valley State University

15
145 Annual Graduates
$28,874 Median Starting Salary
$25,000 Median Student Debt

UIC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chicago.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the phys ed program make about $28,874 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from University of Illinois at Chicago

16
106 Annual Graduates
$26,676 Median Starting Salary
$38,151 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduating, phys ed bachelor's recipients usually make about $26,676 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Western Michigan University

17
104 Annual Graduates
$34,147 Median Starting Salary
$28,067 Median Student Debt

Kent State is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Kent.

Health & Physical Education bachelor's degree recipients from Kent State University at Kent earn a boost of approximately $2,372 above the average income of health & physical education majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from Kent State University at Kent

18
North Central crest
North Central College
Naperville, IL
50 Annual Graduates
$34,609 Median Starting Salary
$38,231 Median Student Debt

Located in the medium-sized city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the health & physical education degree program at North Central College get $2,834 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in health & physical education from North Central College

Rest of the Top Best Health & Physical Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Health & Physical Education students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Health & Physical Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
19 Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN
20 Bowling Green State University - Main Campus Bowling Green, OH
21 Illinois State University Normal, IL
22 Baldwin Wallace University Berea, OH
23 University of Mount Union Alliance, OH
24 University of Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN
25 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL
26 Aurora University Aurora, IL
27 Adrian College Adrian, MI
28 Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI
29 Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL
30 Xavier University Cincinnati, OH

Best Health & Physical Education Colleges by State

Explore the best health & physical education colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 1,946
Ohio 252 1,932
Illinois 241 1,263
Indiana 235 1,387
Wisconsin 213 836

View All Rankings >

Health & Physical Education is one of 4 different types of Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies programs to choose from.

Phys Ed Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Exercise Science and Kinesiology 4,477
Sports Management 2,030
Sports Kinesiology and Physical Education/Fitness General 489
Outdoor Health & Physical Education/Fitness 151
Sports Studies 67
Physical Fitness Technician 23

Majors Similar to Phys Ed

Related Major Annual Graduates
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 253
Recreation Administration 194
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 43
Outdoor Education 25

Notes and References

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