2024 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration in Pennsylvania
9
Ranked Colleges
488
Degrees Awarded
$28,500
Avg Net Price*
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Public Administration is the 49th most popular major in the country with 16,897 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.
Across Pennsylvania, there were 488 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in public administration. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great public administration programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the public administration program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania.
Top 9 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration in Pennsylvania
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, West Chester University of Pennsylvania landed the #1 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 55 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
WCUPA also took the #5 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $21,484 for Pennsylvania Public Admin students per year to attend WCUPA.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full WCUPA Public Administration Report
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania landed the #2 spot on the list. This medium-sized school is located in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 16 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
Kutztown University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Kutztown University of Pennsylvania is $23,227 for pennsylvania public admin students.
Read more about Public Administration at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, this medium-sized public school handed out 14 diplomas to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania public admin students list, Ship has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $23,006 for Pennsylvania Public Admin students per year to attend Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Public Administration at Ship
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Villanova University. It ranked #4 on our 2024 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in Villanova, Pennsylvania, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 114 diplomas to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
Villanova also took the #3 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $43,577 for Pennsylvania Public Admin students per year to attend Villanova University.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Public Administration at Villanova University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania list. Pitt is a large public school situated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It awarded 72 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Pitt, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $27,058 for Pennsylvania Public Admin students per year to attend Pitt.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Pitt Public Administration Report
With a ranking of #6, Widener University did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania list. Widener is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chester, Pennsylvania. It awarded 11 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Widener, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Widener is $31,792 for pennsylvania public admin students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Administration at Widener
Strayer University - Pennsylvania came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This small school is located in Trevose, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 10 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
Strayer University - Pennsylvania not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $24,298 for Pennsylvania Public Admin students per year to attend Strayer University - Pennsylvania.
With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Public Administration at Strayer University - Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. UPenn is a large school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that handed out 59 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
UPenn also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend UPenn is $25,046 for Pennsylvania Public Admin students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 98%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read full report on Public Administration at University of Pennsylvania
With a ranking of #9, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Pennsylvania list. Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 17 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Carnegie Mellon also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend Carnegie Mellon University is $36,775 for pennsylvania public admin students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Carnegie Mellon Public Administration Report
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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