2023 Best Value Colleges for General Physical Sciences (Income $48-$75k) 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 Physical Science Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

General Physical Sciences is the 144th most popular major in the country with 3,823 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, general physical sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $26,561 and had an average of $12,761 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 80 general physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,940 and $12,250 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Physical Science Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in general physical sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general physical sciences programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the general physical sciences program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The physical science school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Physical Science Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k”.

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 Physical Science Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region physical science students whose families make $48-$75k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for General Physical Sciences (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region

1

University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$8,375 Average Net Price

$62,519 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Physical Science Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k. UChicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 24 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UChicago not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best General Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $8,375 for Great Lakes Region Physical Science students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend University of Chicago.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of Chicago General Physical Sciences Report

2

Jackson College
Jackson, Michigan

#3 in overall quality

$12,753 Average Net Price

$39,282 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Jackson College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Science Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in Jackson, Michigan, this small public school awarded 25 diplomas to qualified ’s physical science students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our great lakes region physical science students whose families make $48-$75k list, Jackson College has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best General Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Jackson College is $12,753 for great lakes region physical science students whose families make $48-$75k.

With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about General Physical Sciences at Jackson College

3

Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan

#2 in overall quality

$20,557 Average Net Price

$47,302 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Michigan State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Physical Science Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in East Lansing, Michigan, this large public school awarded 2 diplomas to qualified ’s physical science students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our great lakes region physical science students whose families make $48-$75k list, Michigan State has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best General Physical Sciences Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $20,557 for great lakes region physical science students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Michigan State University.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about General Physical Sciences at Michigan State

• Best Value Colleges for General Physical Sciences (Income $48-$75k)

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.