by our College Data Analytics Team
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.
General Journalism is the 69th most popular major in the country with 11,380 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.
Across the Great Lakes region, there were 1,518 general journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 1,407 general journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,343 and $26,790 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking analyzed 68 colleges that offered a degree in general journalism. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in general journalism.
For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
The journalism 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 “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region”.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree journalism students.
Out of the 68 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Olivet College landed the #1 spot on the list. Olivet College is located in Olivet, Michigan and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 7 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Columbia College Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 34 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about General Journalism at Columbia College Chicago
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Franklin College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. This small school is located in Franklin, Indiana, and it awarded 6 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 5.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Whitewater, Wisconsin, this fairly large public school awarded 55 degrees to qualified bachelors’s journalism students in 2020-2021.
Out of the 68 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Augustana College landed the #5 spot on the list. Augustana College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Rock Island, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 14 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.5% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Ohio University - Athens Campus ranked #6 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Ohio University - Athens Campus is a large school located in Athens, Ohio that handed out 140 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about General Journalism at Ohio University - Athens Campus
Indiana University - Southeast did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #7. Indiana University - Southeast is a small school located in New Albany, Indiana that handed out 13 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about General Journalism at Indiana University - Southeast
University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #8 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Wisconsin - Madison is a large public school situated in Madison, Wisconsin. It awarded 196 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Indiana University - Bloomington ranked #9 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Bloomington, Indiana is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 123 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Indiana University - Bloomington General Journalism Report
Ball State University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #10. Ball State University is a large school located in Muncie, Indiana that handed out 61 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #11, Marquette University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Marquette University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It awarded 30 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Kent State University at Kent landed the #12 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Kent, Ohio is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 58 students in 2020-2021.
Read full report on General Journalism at Kent State University at Kent
Southern Illinois University Carbondale came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 28 degrees to qualified bachelors’s journalism students in 2020-2021.
Ohio Wesleyan University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Ohio Wesleyan University is located in Delaware, Ohio and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 3 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Goshen College ranked #15 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Goshen, Indiana is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 2 students in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #16, Michigan State University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. This large school is located in East Lansing, Michigan, and it awarded 103 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
With a ranking of #17, DePaul University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. DePaul is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 47 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Loyola University Chicago came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Loyola Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 39 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on General Journalism at Loyola University Chicago
North Central College ranked #19 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. North Central is located in Naperville, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh landed the #20 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh is located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 18 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
Miami University - Oxford landed the #21 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Miami University - Oxford is a fairly large school located in Oxford, Ohio that handed out 37 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Oakland University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #22. Oakland is a fairly large public school situated in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It awarded 29 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Madonna University landed the #23 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Madonna University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Livonia, Michigan. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Bradley University ranked #24 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region list. This medium-sized school is located in Peoria, Illinois, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Eastern Illinois University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #25. This medium-sized school is located in Charleston, Illinois, and it awarded 10 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
