2026 Best Value Painting/Painter & Wall Coverer Schools in the Great Lakes Region

[Painting/Painter & Wall Coverer](/majors/construction-trades/building-management-inspection/painting-painter-and-wall-coverer/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong painting/painter & wall coverer education at a price that pays off.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 5 schools to find the best return on investment for painting/painter & wall coverer students.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Painting/Painter & Wall Coverer Schools in the Great Lakes Region
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the painting/painter & wall coverer degrees they offer, see the list below.
Best Value Painting/Painter & Wall Coverer Schools
Leading the list is Ivy Tech Community College, our #1 best value for painting/painter & wall coverer in the Great Lakes Region. Set in the city of Indianapolis, Ivy Tech Community College is a very large public institution. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $5,154, while out-of-state students pay about $9,935. Typical student debt for painting/painter & wall coverer graduates is $7,000. Early-career painting/painter & wall coverer graduates make about $51,303. Set against $7,000 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff.
The strong cost-to-outcome balance at Southwestern Illinois College earned it the #2 place for painting/painter & wall coverer. Set in the suburb of Belleville, Southwestern Illinois College is a large public institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $4,230, compared with $6,720 for out-of-state students. Students borrow a median of $10,388 to complete the painting/painter & wall coverer program here. Soon after graduation, painting/painter & wall coverer degree recipients from Southwestern Illinois College generally make around $44,345. Set against $10,388 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff.
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Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 5 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.