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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

8 Colleges
$15,389 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$76,049 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Information Technology Graduate 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.

The Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Computer Science Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 8 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for IT students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Best Great Lakes Region Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Information Technology

#1

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Ferris State University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for information technology students working on their graduate certificate. Ferris is a fairly large public school located in the town of Big Rapids.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 per year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Ferris State University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Illinois State University is a great value for information technology students working on their graduate certificate. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 a year.

Read More…

#3

Baker College

Owosso, MI

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Baker College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value information technology schools in the Great Lakes Region . Baker College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Owosso.

Baker College graduate students pay an average of $12,750 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Baker College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Grand Valley State University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large suburb of Allendale, GVSU is a public school with a very large student population.

GVSU graduate students pay an average of $17,904 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#5

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, MI

Out of the 8 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Central Michigan University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Central Michigan is a large public school located in the town of Mount Pleasant.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Central Michigan are $15,644 a year.

Full Information Technology at Central Michigan University Report

#6

DePaul University

Chicago, IL

DePaul University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information technology students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

DePaul graduate students pay an average of $18,341 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Wright State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information technology students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Wright State University - Main Campus is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Dayton.

Wright State University - Main Campus graduate students pay an average of $24,286 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Wright State University - Main Campus

Lawrence Technological University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Lawrence Tech is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Southfield.

Lawrence Tech graduate students pay an average of $18,436 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Lawrence Technological University

Best Information Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best information technology schools 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 8 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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