Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region

8 Ranked Colleges
189 Degrees Awarded
$28,500 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master's in the Great Lakes Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

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.

This year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in journalism. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality journalism programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the journalism program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. 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

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region.

Top 8 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism in the Great Lakes Region

#2 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #1 spot on the list. Madison, Wisconsin is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s journalism degrees to 13 students in 2019-2020.

UW - Madison not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UW - Madison are $25,523, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Wisconsin - Madison Journalism Report

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Kent State University at Kent landed the #2 spot on the list. Kent State University at Kent is a public institution located in Kent, Ohio. The school has a large population, and it awarded 9 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region master’s degree journalism students 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 are $21,952.

Read more about Journalism at Kent State

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Ohio University - Athens Campus. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region. OHIO Athens is a large school located in Athens, Ohio that handed out 7 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

OHIO Athens not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio University - Athens Campus are $17,712, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Journalism at Ohio University - Athens Campus

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 5 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #3. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083.

Read full report on Journalism at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region. DePaul University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 20 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region master’s degree journalism students list, DePaul has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul University are $19,760, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Journalism at DePaul University

#8 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, University of Illinois at Springfield did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. UIS is a public institution located in Springfield, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIS not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Springfield are $16,757, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full UIS Journalism Report

#7

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan

With a ranking of #7, Michigan State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. Michigan State is a large school located in East Lansing, Michigan that handed out 5 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

Michigan State also made our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #4. Average graduate tuition and fees at Michigan State University are $37,056, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Michigan State University Journalism Report

#8

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Northwestern University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #8. Northwestern University is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 120 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also made our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #1. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Journalism at Northwestern

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

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.

Featured Communications / Public Relations Schools

Find Schools Near You