Liberal Arts General Studies is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #13 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 53 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for liberal arts general studies students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 3,835 bachelor's degrees in liberal arts general studies to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Liberal Arts General Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The liberal arts bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality liberal arts 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
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on liberal arts general studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of liberal arts general studies students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt liberal arts general studies students go into to obtain their bachelor'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 liberal arts general studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for liberal arts general studies students working on their bachelor'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 Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
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ADBLOCK #171
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Liberal Arts General Studies in the Great Lakes Region
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts
DePaul University is a great option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Liberal Arts General Studies bachelor's degree recipients from DePaul University receive an earnings boost of about $44,572 above the typical income of liberal arts general studies majors.
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay is a good option for students interested in a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. UW - Green Bay is a large public university located in the medium-sized city of Green Bay.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Wisconsin - Green Bay make $14,942 more than the typical liberal arts student.
Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies needs to take a look at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. UW - Whitewater is a large public university located in the town of Whitewater.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the liberal arts program make an average of $40,494 for their early career.
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. U-M is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the liberal arts program make an average of $38,065 in their early career salary.
Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Liberal Arts General Studies bachelor's degree recipients from University of Notre Dame receive an earnings boost of around $6,085 over the typical income of liberal arts general studies graduates.
Located in the rural area of Marion, IWU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Liberal Arts General Studies bachelor's degree recipients from Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global get an earnings boost of around $4,269 above the average income of liberal arts general studies majors.
Located in the town of Marion, IWU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Liberal Arts General Studies bachelor's degree recipients from Indiana Wesleyan University earn a boost of approximately $4,269 over the average earnings of liberal arts general studies graduates.
Located in the city of Indianapolis, IUPUI is a public university with a very large student population.
Liberal Arts General Studies bachelor's degree recipients from Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis get an earnings boost of around $2,005 above the average income of liberal arts general studies majors.
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Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Liberal Arts General Studies students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
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 liberal arts bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality liberal arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
