2024 Best International Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in international studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #69 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 16 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best International Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 795 bachelor's degrees in international studies to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great International Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Your choice of international studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality international studies program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on international studies students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of international studies students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt international studies students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized international studies related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for international studies students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank International Studies Schools

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 International Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study International Studies in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in international studies.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in International Studies

1

University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN

32 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in international studies needs to take a look at University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from University of Notre Dame

2

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI

209 Annual Graduates

$33,806 Median Starting Salary

$15,053 Median Student Debt

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in international studies. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.

International Studies bachelor's degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive an earnings boost of approximately $2,242 over the average earnings of international studies majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

3

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

95 Annual Graduates

$28,989 Median Starting Salary

$20,469 Median Student Debt

University of Wisconsin - Madison is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in international studies. UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the international studies program earn about $28,989 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from University of Wisconsin - Madison

4

Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

45 Annual Graduates

$30,431 Median Starting Salary

$27,000 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Michigan State University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in international studies. Michigan State is a very large public university located in the small city of East Lansing.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the international studies program make about $30,431 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from Michigan State University

5

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

54 Annual Graduates

$21,628 Median Student Debt

UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

6

Miami University - Oxford
Oxford, OH

16 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from Miami University - Oxford

7

University of Dayton
Dayton, OH

21 Annual Graduates

$28,277 Median Starting Salary

$24,199 Median Student Debt

Located in the medium-sized city of Dayton, UDayton is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

After graduating, international studies bachelor's recipients generally make about $28,277 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from University of Dayton

8

Baldwin Wallace University
Berea, OH

2 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Berea, Baldwin Wallace College is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from Baldwin Wallace University

9

Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI

12 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from Grand Valley State University

10

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI

8 Annual Graduates

$35,200 Median Starting Salary

$25,372 Median Student Debt

UW - Stevens Point is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Stevens Point.

Bachelor's recipients from the international studies degree program at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point get $3,636 more than the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in international studies from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

Best International Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best international studies schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	261	319
Ohio	252	130
Illinois	241	115
Indiana	235	51
Wisconsin	213	180

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to International Studies

International Studies is one of 51 different types of Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies programs to choose from.

International Studies Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
International/Globalization Studies	795

Majors Similar to International Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	1,379
Interdisciplinary Studies	341
Data Analytics	274
Nutrition Science	258
Mathematics & Computer Science	257
Sustainability Science	243
Cognitive Science	221
Biological & Physical Science	196
Human Biology	153
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution	94

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Yerpo. More about our data sources and methodologies.