2025 Best Photography Schools in the Great Lakes Region
7Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
261Photography Degrees Awarded
Photography is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #310 most popular 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 7 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for photography students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 261 degrees in photography annually.
Your choice of photography school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Photography School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The photography 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 Photography Schools in the Great Lakes Region.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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 Photography in the Great Lakes Region
The schools below may not offer all types of photography degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Columbia College Chicago is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in photography. Located in the city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #212 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great college overall.
There were about 70 photography students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available.
Grand Valley State University is a great option for students interested in a degree in photography. Located in the town of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 5th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 7 photography students who graduated with this degree at GVSU in the most recent data year.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Ohio University - Athens Campus is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in photography. OHIO Athens is a fairly large public university located in the distant town of Athens. A Best Colleges rank of #184 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means OHIO Athens is a great university overall.
There were approximately 3 photography students who graduated with this degree at OHIO Athens in the most recent data year.
Washtenaw Community College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in photography. Located in the large suburb of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Community College is a public college with a large student population. This college ranks 29th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 19 photography students who graduated with this degree at Washtenaw Community College in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Flint, MCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 31st out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 6 photography students who graduated with this degree at MCC in the most recent data year.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
Your choice of photography school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Photography School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
