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2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region

9 Ranked Colleges
189 Degrees Awarded
$28,300 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master's in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Journalism is the 62nd most popular major in the country with 14,528 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,042 and had an average of $24,628 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 1,983 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,873 and $26,636 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 189 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,039 and $42,488 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in journalism. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality journalism programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the journalism program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Journalism Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

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

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

Top 9 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 120 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567.

Read full report on Journalism at Northwestern

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, this large public school awarded 13 diplomas to qualified masters’s journalism students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UW - Madison, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UW - Madison are $25,523, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Journalism at University of Wisconsin - Madison

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. UIUC is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIUC, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Journalism at UIUC

#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Springfield. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k. University of Illinois at Springfield is a small school located in Springfield, Illinois that handed out 4 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

UIS also took the #8 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Springfield are $16,757.

Read full report on Journalism at UIS

#5

Ball State University

Muncie, Indiana

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, Ball State University landed the #5 spot on the list. Ball State University is a public institution located in Muncie, Indiana. The school has a large population, and it awarded 2 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Ball State, the school also landed the #0 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Ball State University are $26,204.

Full Ball State Journalism Report

Kent State University at Kent did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #6. Kent State is a large school located in Kent, Ohio that handed out 9 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region master’s degree journalism students whose families make $48-$75k list, Kent State has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Kent State University at Kent are $21,952.

Full Kent State Journalism Report

#7

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan

Michigan State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in East Lansing, Michigan, this large public school awarded 5 degrees to qualified masters’s journalism students in 2019-2020.

Michigan State also took the #4 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Michigan State are $37,056.

Read full report on Journalism at Michigan State

#6 in overall quality

Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #8. OHIO Athens is a large public school situated in Athens, Ohio. It awarded 7 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at OHIO Athens, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio University - Athens Campus are $17,712, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Journalism at OHIO Athens

#9

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #9. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s journalism degrees to 20 students in 2019-2020.

DePaul also made our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #7. Average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul are $19,760, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Journalism 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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Jfurrer.

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