Business Administration & Management is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #1 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 135 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Business Administration & Management Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 15,707 master's degrees in business administration & management to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Business Administration & Management School for Your Master's Degree
The business administration master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality business administration 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 master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree 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 master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master'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 many resources a school devotes to business administration & management students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other business administration & management students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
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 business administration & management students go into to obtain their master'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 business administration & management related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for business administration & management students working on their master's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Business Administration & Management Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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ADBLOCK #171
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Business Administration & Management in the Great Lakes Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in business administration & management. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
25 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Master's in Business Administration
It's difficult to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a master's degree in business administration & management. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Northwestern University make $144,898 more than the typical business administration graduate.
It is difficult to beat University of Michigan - Ann Arbor if you want to pursue a master's degree in business administration & management. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Business Administration & Management master's degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive an earnings boost of around $80,782 over the typical income of business administration & management majors.
It is hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you want to pursue a master's degree in business administration & management. UIUC is a very large public university located in the city of Champaign.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $39,295 more than the average business administration student.
It's hard to beat Ohio State University - Main Campus if you wish to pursue a master's degree in business administration & management. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Business Administration & Management master's degree recipients from Ohio State University - Main Campus receive an earnings boost of around $37,320 above the typical income of business administration & management graduates.
Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing.
Business Administration & Management master's degree recipients from Michigan State University earn a boost of approximately $38,252 over the typical earnings of business administration & management majors.
Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a very large student population.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Purdue University - Main Campus make $23,776 more than the average business administration student.
DePaul is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.
Master's recipients from the business administration & management major at DePaul University get $22,206 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Loyola University Chicago make $22,108 more than the typical business administration student.
Marquette is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Milwaukee.
Business Administration & Management master's degree recipients from Marquette University receive an earnings boost of approximately $38,230 over the average income of business administration & management majors.
Located in the town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public university with a very large student population.
Business Administration & Management master's degree recipients from Ohio University - Athens Campus earn a boost of approximately $19,593 above the typical income of business administration & management majors.
Located in the city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Case Western Reserve University receive $13,056 more than the average business administration student.
IWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Marion.
Business Administration & Management master's degree recipients from Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global get an earnings boost of about $3,111 above the typical income of business administration & management majors.
Located in the large city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus receive $14,081 more than the typical business administration grad.
Located in the city of Cincinnati, Xavier is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Xavier University make $22,785 more than the standard business administration graduate.
Located in the fringe town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public university with a large student population.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Miami University - Oxford receive $32,382 more than the typical business administration graduate.
Located in the large suburb of Rochester Hills, Oakland is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the business administration & management major at Oakland University make $11,875 more than the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the distant town of Platteville, UW - Platteville is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.
Master's recipients from the business administration & management program at University of Wisconsin - Platteville earn $15,586 more than the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
WMU is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Kalamazoo.
Master's recipients from the business administration & management degree program at Western Michigan University earn $3,725 more than the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Benedictine U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Lisle.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Benedictine University receive $2,308 more than the standard business administration graduate.
Located in the city of Detroit, Wayne State is a public university with a very large student population.
Those business administration & management students who get their master's degree from Wayne State University make $13,894 more than the average business administration grad.
Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a large student population.
Master's recipients from the business administration & management major at Northern Illinois University earn $5,636 above the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a very large student population.
Master's recipients from the business administration & management major at University of Illinois at Chicago get $8,544 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Business Administration & Management Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
Business Administration & Management Related Rankings by Major
One of 21 majors within the Business, Management & Marketing area of study, Business Administration & Management has other similar majors worth exploring.
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.
The business administration master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality business administration program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
