2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
Public Policy is the 116th most popular major in the country with 6,199 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,077 and had an average of $35,743 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Great Lakes region, there were 989 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $53,283 and $31,567 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 361 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,075 and $25,381 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in public policy. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public policy programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public policy program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k
The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.
Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 129 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.
UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $2,712 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Chicago.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 66 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
Northwestern also took the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern is $1,866 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $0-$30k.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. U-M is a large public school situated in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It awarded 77 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k list, U-M has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $3,166 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend U-M.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Read more about Public Policy at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Ohio State University - Main Campus landed the #4 spot on the list. Ohio State University - Main Campus is a public institution located in Columbus, Ohio. The school has a large population, and it awarded 29 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Ohio State, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $8,194 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Ohio State.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Michigan State University landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in East Lansing, Michigan, this large public school handed out 27 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.
Michigan State also made our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for Michigan State University is $6,686 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.
The low student loan default rate of 3.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
University of Illinois at Chicago ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. UIC is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 25 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
UIC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Chicago is $10,648 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.
The low student loan default rate of 3.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of Illinois at Chicago
Olivet Nazarene University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Olivet Nazarene is a small school located in Bourbonnais, Illinois that handed out 2 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.
Olivet Nazarene not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $15,806 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Olivet Nazarene University.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
DePaul University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 5 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.
DePaul also made our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #8. The yearly cost to attend DePaul University is $26,173 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Southeast Region
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the New England Region
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Plains States Region
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
Footnotes
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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