by our College Data Analytics TeamWith all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take when you want to pursue a degree. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard. You may be surprised that some normally high-priced schools offer very generous financial aid packages to those who qualify.
In This Year's Value Report:
After analyzing 161 schools in the Great Lakes Region , we came up with our list of those that offered the best value Master's Degree programs. Our ranking methodology focuses on different objective factors to make this determination of the best value schools. We explain more about what we look at and why we do so below.
To calculate the value of a school in our Best Master's Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking, we first consider its average net price of students from families making $75-$110k a year. The net price is the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that that the student receives. In addition, the overall quality of a school is important to ensure a good education, not just how much it costs.
To make it into this list a school must offer a quality education like the schools in our Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considers factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
We go into more detail on these factors on our best value ranking methodology page.
You can scroll down to see the top schools for this ranking, but you may also want to view some of the other ranking methods listed below.
Know what field you want to major in? Make sure you check out our best value schools by major. In addition, you can select one of the links below to see the best value colleges for other degree levels.
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found University of Chicago to be the best value (income $75-$110k) school for master’s degrees in the Great Lakes Region in this year’s ranking. University of Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Chicago, Illinois.
Not only is University of Chicago a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in Illinois for overall quality.
Out of the 161 master’s degree schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Purdue University - Main Campus landed the #2 spot on the list. Purdue is a public institution located in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Not only is Purdue University - Main Campus a great value, but it is also ranked #2 in Indiana for overall quality.
The quality degree programs at Northwestern University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region. Northwestern University is a large private not-for-profit school located in Evanston, Illinois.
Not only is Northwestern University a great value, but it is also ranked #2 in Illinois for overall quality.
The quality degree programs at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region. Ann Arbor, Michigan is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Michigan.
Read full value report on University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Out of the 161 master’s degree schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Notre Dame landed the #5 spot on the list. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Notre Dame, Indiana.
University of Notre Dame has the honor of being ranked #1 in Indiana for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Michigan State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Michigan State is located in East Lansing, Michigan and has a large student population. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Michigan State University is ranked #2 for quality in the state of Michigan.
With a ranking of #7, Michigan Technological University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. Michigan Tech is a medium-sized public school situated in Houghton, Michigan.
Not only is Michigan Technological University a great value, but it is also ranked #3 in Michigan for overall quality.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #8. UIUC is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has the honor of being ranked #3 in Illinois for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #9 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school is a large public institution.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Wisconsin - Madison is ranked #1 for quality in the state of Wisconsin.
Indiana University - Bloomington ranked #10 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Bloomington, Indiana, the school is a large public institution.
Indiana University - Bloomington has the honor of being ranked #3 in Indiana for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Ball State University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Muncie, Indiana, the school is a large public institution.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Ball State University is ranked #5 for quality in the state of Indiana.
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. La Crosse, Wisconsin is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse has the honor of being ranked #4 in Wisconsin for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
With a ranking of #13, Indiana University - Southeast did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in New Albany, Indiana, the school is a small public institution.
Indiana University - Southeast has the honor of being ranked #23 in Indiana for overall quality on top of being a good value.
With a ranking of #14, University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. This large public school is located in Chicago, Illinois.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Illinois at Chicago is ranked #12 for quality in the state of Illinois.
Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis landed the #15 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Indianapolis, Indiana is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis has the honor of being ranked #7 in Indiana for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Read full value report on Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis
With a ranking of #16, University of Michigan - Dearborn did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Michigan - Dearborn is a medium-sized public school located in Dearborn, Michigan.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of Michigan - Dearborn is ranked #8 for quality in the state of Michigan.
With a ranking of #17, Indiana University - Kokomo did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. IU Kokomo is a public institution located in Kokomo, Indiana.
Indiana University - Kokomo has the honor of being ranked #31 in Indiana for overall quality on top of being a good value.
With a ranking of #18, Central Michigan University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. Central Michigan is a fairly large public school situated in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Central Michigan University is ranked #7 for quality in the state of Michigan.
University of Wisconsin - Platteville ranked #19 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region list. This medium-sized public school is located in Platteville, Wisconsin.
University of Wisconsin - Platteville has the honor of being ranked #9 in Wisconsin for overall quality on top of being a good value.
Concordia University, Chicago landed the #20 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. River Forest, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
Not only is Concordia University, Chicago a great value, but it is also ranked #5 in Illinois for overall quality.
Indiana University - Northwest came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in Gary, Indiana, the school is a small public institution.
Not only is Indiana University - Northwest a great value, but it is also ranked #26 in Indiana for overall quality.
Ohio State University - Main Campus came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Columbus, Ohio is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Ohio State University - Main Campus is ranked #2 for quality in the state of Ohio.
Read full value report on Ohio State University - Main Campus
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #23. University of Wisconsin - Whitewater is a fairly large public school located in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
Not only is University of Wisconsin - Whitewater a great value, but it is also ranked #11 in Wisconsin for overall quality.
Learn More About Value at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
University of St Francis came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Joliet, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. It is a private not-for-profit school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, University of St Francis is ranked #16 for quality in the state of Illinois.
Governors State University landed the #25 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking. GSU is a small public school situated in University Park, Illinois.
Not only is Governors State University a great value, but it is also ranked #34 in Illinois for overall quality.
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These schools also performed well in our Best Master’s Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region ranking:
| Rank | College | Location | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Indiana University - East | Richmond, IN | Value Report |
| 27 | University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire | Eau Claire, WI | Value Report |
| 28 | University of Southern Indiana | Evansville, IN | Value Report |
| 29 | National Louis University | Chicago, IL | Value Report |
| 30 | University of Wisconsin - River Falls | River Falls, WI | Value Report |
| 31 | Aurora University | Aurora, IL | Value Report |
| 32 | Oakland University | Rochester Hills, MI | Value Report |
| 33 | Saginaw Valley State University | University Center, MI | Value Report |
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.