2025 Best Business, Management & Marketing Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Ranked #3 in popularity, business, management & marketing is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 83 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for business, management & marketing students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 13,993 associate degrees in business, management & marketing to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Business, Management & Marketing School for Your Associate Degree

The business, management & marketing associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality business, management & marketing program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on business, management & marketing students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of business, management & marketing students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• 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, management & marketing students go into to obtain their associate 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, management & marketing related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for business, management & marketing students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Business, Management & Marketing Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Business, Management & Marketing Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Business, Management & Marketing in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in business, management & marketing. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

16 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for an Associate in Business, Management & Marketing

1

Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global
Marion, IN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

150 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global if you want to pursue an associate degree in business, management & marketing. IWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Marion.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global

2

Ivy Tech Community College
Indianapolis, IN

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

1,192 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in business, management & marketing needs to look into Ivy Tech Community College. Ivy Tech Community College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Indianapolis.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Ivy Tech Community College

3

Gateway Technical College
Kenosha, WI

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

201 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Gateway Technical College if you want to pursue an associate degree in business, management & marketing. Gateway Technical College is a large public college located in the small city of Kenosha.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Gateway Technical College

4

Madison Area Technical College
Madison, WI

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

144 Annual Graduates

Madison Area Technical College is a great choice for students interested in an associate degree in business, management & marketing. Madison College is a large public college located in the city of Madison.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Madison Area Technical College

5

Western Technical College
La Crosse, WI

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

122 Annual Graduates

Western Technical College is a small public college located in the small city of La Crosse.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Western Technical College

6

Northwood University
Midland, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

51 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Midland, Northwood is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Northwood University

7

Purdue University Global
West Lafayette, IN

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

620 Annual Graduates

Purdue University Global is a fairly large public university located in the small city of West Lafayette.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Purdue University Global

8

Sinclair Community College
Dayton, OH

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

258 Annual Graduates

Sinclair Community College is a large public college located in the city of Dayton.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Sinclair Community College

9

Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee, WI

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

248 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Milwaukee, MATC is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Milwaukee Area Technical College

10

Fox Valley Technical College
Appleton, WI

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

224 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Appleton, FVTC is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Fox Valley Technical College

11

Northcentral Technical College
Wausau, WI

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

86 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Wausau, North Central Technical College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Northcentral Technical College

12

Davenport University
Grand Rapids, MI

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

71 Annual Graduates

Davenport University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Grand Rapids.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Davenport University

13

Herzing University - Madison
Madison, WI

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

41 Annual Graduates

Herzing University - Madison is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Madison.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Herzing University - Madison

14

College of DuPage
Glen Ellyn, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

108 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Glen Ellyn, COD is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from College of DuPage

15

Rasmussen University - Illinois
Rockford, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

61 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Rockford, Rasmussen University - Illinois is a private for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Rasmussen University - Illinois

16

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
Green Bay, WI

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

221 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Green Bay, NWTC is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in business, management & marketing from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Rest of the Top Best Business, Management & Marketing Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Business, Management & Marketing students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Business, Management & Marketing Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank	College	Location
17	Ferris State University	Big Rapids, MI
18	William Rainey Harper College	Palatine, IL
19	University of Toledo	Toledo, OH
20	Waukesha County Technical College	Pewaukee, WI
21	Chippewa Valley Technical College	Eau Claire, WI
22	Joliet Junior College	Joliet, IL
23	Lakeshore Technical College	Cleveland, WI
24	Franklin University	Columbus, OH
25	Cincinnati State Technical and Community College	Cincinnati, OH
26	Macomb Community College	Warren, MI
27	Blackhawk Technical College	Janesville, WI

Best Business, Management & Marketing Colleges by State

Explore the best business, management & marketing colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	38	2,588
Ohio	36	4,514
Indiana	35	2,572
Wisconsin	31	2,311
Illinois	30	2,165

View All Rankings >

Business, Management & Marketing Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management	8,188
Accounting	1,910
General Business/Commerce	1,700
Business Support & Assistant Services	569
Human Resource Management	369
Marketing	290
Hospitality Management	273
Entrepreneurial Studies	186
General Sales & Marketing	180
Finance & Financial Management	79

Notes and References

• 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.
• 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 Amit Savargaonkar. More about our data sources and methodologies.