2026 Best Outdoor Education Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Outdoor Education programs are offered at a focused set of schools across the country. While the number of schools offering the program varies, there are still top-quality ones to be found.
College Factual analyzed 2 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best outdoor education schools.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for Outdoor Education in the Great Lakes Region
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the outdoor education degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in Outdoor Education
Central Michigan University tops our 2026 ranking of the best outdoor education schools. This large public university is located in the town of Mount Pleasant. About 59% of students finish within six years. There were roughly 14 outdoor education students who graduated with this degree at Central Michigan University in the most recent data year. Students who receive their outdoor education degree from Central Michigan University earn around $50,688 in the first couple years of their career. Students borrow a median of $27,857 to complete this degree.
Get the full outdoor education details for Central Michigan University
Narrow Outdoor Education Schools by State
More Outdoor Education Rankings
View All Outdoor Education Rankings >
Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs graduation rate, post-graduation earnings, cost, and program quality, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 2 schools evaluated.
- 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.
