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2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k

8 Ranked Colleges
361 Degrees Awarded
$11,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor's in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

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.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public policy programs that also have a lower cost than 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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 Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k” 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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $30-$48k) in the Great Lakes Region

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 129 students in 2019-2020.

UChicago also made our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for University of Chicago is $2,800 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at UChicago

#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

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 $30-$48k list. Located in Evanston, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 66 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern University is $3,995 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.

Full Northwestern University Public Policy Report

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is a large public school situated in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It awarded 77 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

U-M not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend U-M is $5,887 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Public Policy at U-M

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Ohio State University - Main Campus. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k. Ohio State is a public institution located in Columbus, Ohio. The school has a large population, and it awarded 29 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $30-$48k list, Ohio State has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Ohio State is $10,037 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.4% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Full Ohio State University - Main Campus Public Policy Report

#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k 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 estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $11,185 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

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%.

Read more about Public Policy at UIC

#6

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan

Michigan State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #6. East Lansing, Michigan is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 27 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 $15,197 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Michigan State University Public Policy Report

#7

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Olivet Nazarene University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. Olivet Nazarene is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

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 $15,390 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k 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%.

Full Olivet Nazarene Public Policy Report

#8

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #8, DePaul University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 5 diplomas 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 estimated yearly cost for DePaul University is $25,842 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.5% 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 DePaul

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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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