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Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

24 Colleges
$10,889 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Information Technology Basic Certificate School for You

With 40,555 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, information technology is the #3 most popular major in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which computer science program is right for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Computer Science Degree Search has developed this Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 24 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value basic certificate programs for IT students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the IT basic certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Fox Valley Technical College to be the best value school for information technology students who want to pursue a basic certificate in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the medium-sized suburb of Appleton, FVTC is a public school with a large student population.

FVTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,861 in tuition and fees each year.

FVTC did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Madison Area Technical College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Madison College is a large public school located in the large city of Madison.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Madison College are $6,769 a year.

Madison College also made our Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #2.

Read full report on Information Technology at Madison Area Technical College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the rural area of Shell Lake, WITC is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WITC are $6,960 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, WITC is ranked #5 for overall quality for IT in the Great Lakes Region .

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chippewa Valley Technical College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. CVTC is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Eau Claire.

CVTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,683 in tuition and fees each year.

CVTC also claimed a spot on our Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Information Technology at Chippewa Valley Technical College

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Sinclair Community College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Dayton, Sinclair Community College is a public college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Sinclair Community College are $8,076 per year.

Sinclair Community College also made our Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #4.

Read full report on Information Technology at Sinclair Community College

#6

Ivy Tech Community College

Indianapolis, IN

Ivy Tech Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information technology students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Indianapolis, Ivy Tech Community College is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Ivy Tech Community College are $8,927 a year.

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Gateway Technical College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Kenosha, Gateway Technical College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Gateway Technical College are $6,803 per year.

Read More…

#8

Western Technical College

La Crosse, WI

Western Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information technology students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. Western Technical College is a small public school located in the city of La Crosse.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Western Technical College are $6,687 per year.

Full Information Technology at Western Technical College Report

#9

Oakland Community College

Bloomfield Hills, MI

Oakland Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate information technology programs. Oakland Community College is a large public school located in the suburb of Bloomfield Hills.

Oakland Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,200 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Oakland Community College

#10

Washtenaw Community College

Ann Arbor, MI

Washtenaw Community College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the large suburb of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Washtenaw Community College are $5,856 per year.

Full Information Technology at Washtenaw Community College Report

Best Information Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best information technology colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 637
Ohio 485
Illinois 510
Indiana 553
Wisconsin 376

One of 10 majors within the computer science area of study, information technology has other similar majors worth exploring.

IT Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Computer & IS Security 22,829
Network & System Administration/Administrator 5,501
Information Technology Management 4,009
Computer Support Specialist 3,176
System, Networking, & LAN/WAN Management/Manager 2,077
Information Technology Project Management 2,076
Web/Multimedia Management & Webmaster 887

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 88,434
Computer Science 59,565
Information Science 18,325
Computer Systems Networking 14,700
Computer Software & Applications 14,336

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 24 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 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 Craig Dennis.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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