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2024 Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region

7 Colleges in the Plains States Region
104 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
$50,368 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in public policy, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #113 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 7 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of public policy. Combined, these schools handed out 104 degrees in public policy to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Public Policy School

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

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Public Policy Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Public Policy
Master's Degrees in Public Policy
Doctor's Degrees in Public Policy

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Public Policy in the Plains States Region

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the public policy degree levels they offer.

Top Plains States Region Schools in Public Policy

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
36 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
$56,210 Median Starting Salary

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in public policy. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Minneapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #51 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.

There were about 36 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public policy degree program at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities earn $5,843 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MO

Washington University in St Louis is a good choice for students interested in a degree in public policy. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis. A Best Colleges rank of #17 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.

There were about 14 public policy students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in public policy from Washington University in St Louis

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In MN
14.3% Growth in Graduates

St Catherine University is a good decision for students interested in a degree in public policy. St. Kate's is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Saint Paul. This university ranks 16th out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.

There were approximately 7 public policy students who graduated with this degree at St. Kate's in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in public policy from St Catherine University

4
SLU crest
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In MO
75.0% Growth in Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in public policy has to look into Saint Louis University. Located in the city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 7th out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.

There were approximately 4 public policy students who graduated with this degree at SLU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in public policy from Saint Louis University

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IA
93.8% Growth in Graduates

UNI is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Cedar Falls. This university ranks 4th out of 40 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were approximately 16 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of Northern Iowa

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In KS
50.0% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means KU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 2 public policy students who graduated with this degree at KU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of Kansas

6
7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In MO
28.6% Growth in Graduates

Missouri Southern is a small public university located in the city of Joplin. This university ranks 30th out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.

There were about 7 public policy students who graduated with this degree at Missouri Southern in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in public policy from Missouri Southern State University

9

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

Explore the best public policy colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Minnesota28492
Missouri28337
Kansas2661
Iowa2641
Nebraska2380

View All Rankings >

Public Policy is one of 4 different types of Public Administration & Social Service programs to choose from.

Public Policy Concentrations

MajorAnnual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis90
Health Policy Analysis7
International Policy Analysis7

View All Public Policy Concentrations >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Human Services1,406
Public Administration1,167
Community Organization & Advocacy199
Other Public Administration19

View All Public Policy Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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