2024 Best Economics Schools in the Great Lakes Region
78Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
6,646Economics Degrees Awarded
$48,027Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a degree in economics, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #19 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 78 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Economics Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 6,646 degrees in economics during the 2021-2022 academic year.
The economics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Economics rankings. For our Best Overall Economics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Economics Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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 Economics in the Great Lakes Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the economics degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It's difficult to beat University of Chicago if you want to pursue a degree in economics. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were approximately 777 economics students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent year we have data available. Economics degree recipients from University of Chicago earn a boost of about $34,537 above the typical income of economics majors.
Every student pursuing a degree in economics needs to look into Northwestern University. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were approximately 421 economics students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the economics program at Northwestern University make $23,461 more than the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
University of Notre Dame is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in economics. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were about 252 economics students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the economics program at University of Notre Dame make $21,043 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
It is hard to beat University of Wisconsin - Madison if you want to pursue a degree in economics. UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 714 economics students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the economics program report average early career wages of $48,053.
Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were about 690 economics students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the economics program at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earn $13,997 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 495 economics students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the economics program report average early career wages of $50,008.
Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #69 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 351 economics students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the economics program earn an average of $42,908 in the first couple years of working.
Michigan State is a very large public university located in the small city of East Lansing. A Best Colleges rank of #74 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 312 economics students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, economics degree recipients generally earn about $48,199 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.
There were about 205 economics students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available. Economics degree recipients from Purdue University - Main Campus earn a boost of around $3,697 over the typical earnings of economics majors.
Located in the city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #63 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Case Western is a great university overall.
There were approximately 67 economics students who graduated with this degree at Case Western in the most recent data year. Those economics students who get their degree from Case Western Reserve University earn $10,911 more than the average economics grad.
Located in the suburb of Granville, Denison is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 4th out of 96 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were roughly 77 economics students who graduated with this degree at Denison in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the economics program at Denison University earn $5,641 above the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Here are some additional great schools for Economics students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Economics Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to pixabay.
The economics program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Economics rankings. For our Best Overall Economics School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
