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2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k

8 Ranked Colleges
361 Degrees Awarded
$45,667 Avg Salary
Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor's in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking - to help you make that 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 $48-$75k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the public policy program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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 $48-$75k” 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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $48-$75k) 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 $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 129 bachelors’s 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. The yearly cost to attend University of Chicago is $7,934 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

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 student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Public Policy at University of Chicago

#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 $48-$75k 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.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern University is $6,452 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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 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 excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Public Policy at Northwestern

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #3 spot on the list. U-M is a public institution located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school has a large population, and it awarded 77 bachelors’s 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 estimated yearly cost for University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is $10,028 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 1.2% 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 96%.

Read more about 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 $48-$75k. Located in Columbus, Ohio, this large public school awarded 29 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

Ohio State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Ohio State University - Main Campus is $13,982 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Public Policy at Ohio State

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 25 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for UIC is $13,683 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

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%.

Full UIC Public Policy Report

#6

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan

Michigan State University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. Michigan State University is a large school located in East Lansing, Michigan that handed out 27 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

Michigan State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $20,696 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Michigan State University.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Michigan State

#7

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

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 $48-$75k 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. The yearly cost to attend Olivet Nazarene University is $17,841 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

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%.

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 $48-$75k list. DePaul is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $48-$75k list, DePaul has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $28,075 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend DePaul University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 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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