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2024 Best Public Administration Schools in District of Columbia

4 Colleges in District of Columbia
265 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$57,659 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in public administration, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #60 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 4 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Public Administration Schools in District of Columbia ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 265 degrees in public administration during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Public Administration School

Best Public Administration Schools in District of Columbia Your choice of public administration school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Public Administration School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Public Administration Degree Level

Master's Degrees in Public Admin
Doctor's Degrees in Public Admin

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Public Administration Schools in District of Columbia list, to help you choose the best school for you. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Public Administration in District of Columbia

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the public admin degrees they offer, see the list below.

Top District of Columbia Schools in Public Admin

1
The American University crest
American University
Washington, DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
164 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$69,734 Median Starting Salary

American University is a good option for students pursuing a degree in public administration. The American University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington. This university ranks 3rd out of 8 colleges for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.

There were about 164 public administration students who graduated with this degree at The American University in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the public administration degree program at American University earn $12,076 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in public administration from American University

2
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In DC
46.2% Growth in Graduates

Georgetown University is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in public administration. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Georgetown is a great university overall.

There were roughly 13 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Georgetown in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in public administration from Georgetown University

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
60 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$71,996 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in public administration needs to look into George Washington University. GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. This university ranks 2nd out of 8 schools for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.

There were approximately 60 public administration students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent year we have data available. Public Administration degree recipients from George Washington University earn a boost of about $14,338 over the average income of public administration majors.

More information about a degree in public administration from George Washington University

4

Best Public Administration Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Public Administration Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Pennsylvania334405
New York3331,826
Maryland279240
New Jersey273348
Delaware17529

View All Rankings >

One of 4 majors within the Public Administration & Social Service area of study, Public Administration has other similar majors worth exploring.

Public Admin Concentrations

MajorAnnual Graduates
Public Administration265

View All Public Admin Concentrations >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Public Policy211
Human Services23
Community Organization & Advocacy1

View All Public Admin Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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