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2025 Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

20 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
649 Bachelor's Degrees
$38,966 Avg Early-Career Salary
Geological & Earth Sciences is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #80 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for geological & earth sciences students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 649 bachelor's degrees in geological & earth sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Geological & Earth Sciences School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region The geology bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality geology 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

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different 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 bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

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 colleges for geological & earth sciences students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Geological & Earth Sciences Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Geology 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 Geological & Earth Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools 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 Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Geological & Earth Sciences in the Great Lakes Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences.

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

1

University of Wisconsin - Madison is a great option for students interested in a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences. UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison.

Bachelor's recipients from the geological & earth sciences program at University of Wisconsin - Madison make $4,102 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Wisconsin - Madison

2

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences needs to take a look at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Geological & Earth Sciences bachelor's degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor get an earnings boost of approximately $7,008 over the typical earnings of geological & earth sciences majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

3

Ohio State University - Main Campus is a great decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences. Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population.

Those geological & earth sciences students who get their bachelor's degree from Ohio State University - Main Campus make $2,190 more than the typical geology grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from Ohio State University - Main Campus

4
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in geological & earth sciences needs to take a look at Michigan State University. Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the geology program report average early career income of $39,997.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from Michigan State University

5

UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the geology program earn an average of $38,867 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

6

Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the geology program make around $39,692 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from Purdue University - Main Campus

7
14 Annual Graduates

WMU is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Kalamazoo.More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from Western Michigan University

8

Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public university with a large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the geology program report average early career income of $38,478.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from Miami University - Oxford

9
14 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

10

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

Soon after graduating, geology bachelor's recipients typically make around $37,280 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in geological & earth sciences from University of Illinois at Chicago

Best Geological & Earth Sciences Colleges by State

Explore the best geological & earth sciences schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 155
Ohio 252 159
Illinois 241 88
Indiana 235 59
Wisconsin 213 111

View All Rankings >

One of 8 majors within the Physical Sciences area of study, Geological & Earth Sciences has other similar majors worth exploring.

Geology Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Geology & Earth Sciences 595
Other Geological & Earth Sciences/Geosciences 17
Geophysics & Seismology 14
Paleontology 9
Geochemistry 7
Hydrology & Water Resources Science 7

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemistry 1,919
Physics 1,099
Astronomy & Astrophysics 219
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology 141
General Physical Sciences 16
Other Physical Science 9
Materials Sciences 7

Notes and References

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