2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for General Family & Consumer Sciences in the Great Lakes Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Consumer Science Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

General Family & Consumer Sciences is the 143rd most popular major in the country with 3,362 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, general family and consumer sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $28,585 and had an average of $25,171 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 197 general family and consumer sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,060 and $25,989 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 56 general family and consumer sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,039 and $42,488 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Consumer Science Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in general family and consumer sciences. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general family and consumer sciences programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general family and consumer sciences program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Consumer Science Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique 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.

Best Value Consumer Science Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region master’s degree consumer science students.

Top 3 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for General Family & Consumer Sciences in the Great Lakes Region

#1

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$11,069 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$45,696 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Consumer Science Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. Illinois State is located in Normal, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 19 masters’s consumer science degrees to qualified students.

Illinois State also took the #2 spot in our “Best General Family & Consumer Sciences 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 Illinois State University are $11,069.

Read more about General Family & Consumer Sciences at Illinois State

#2

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, Wisconsin

#1 in overall quality

$25,523 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Consumer Science Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Wisconsin - Madison is located in Madison, Wisconsin and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 12 masters’s consumer science degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our great lakes region master’s degree consumer science students list, UW - Madison has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Family & Consumer Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UW - Madison are $25,523, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on General Family & Consumer Sciences at UW - Madison

#3

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$20,761 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$40,728 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Consumer Science Schools for a Master’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Eastern Illinois University landed the #3 spot on the list. EIU is a public institution located in Charleston, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 25 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

EIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best General Family & Consumer Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at EIU are $20,761.

Full EIU General Family & Consumer Sciences Report

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for General Family & Consumer Sciences

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 National Cancer Institute.

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