2024 Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Georgia

Ranked #19 in popularity, public administration is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 11 schools in Georgia to determine which ones were the best for public administration students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 379 master's degrees in public administration during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Public Administration School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of public administration for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality public admin 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 for a Master's Degree 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 master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master'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 many resources a school devotes to public administration students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other public administration students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• 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 easy is it for public administration to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized public administration related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public administration students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The public admin school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Georgia.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Public Administration in Georgia

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in public administration.

10 Top Georgia Schools for a Master's in Public Admin

1

University of Georgia
Athens, GA

74 Annual Graduates

$47,593 Median Starting Salary

University of Georgia is a great decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in public administration. Located in the city of Athens, UGA is a public university with a very large student population.

Those public administration students who get their master's degree from University of Georgia earn $4,029 more than the average public admin student.

More information about a master’s in public administration from University of Georgia

2

Augusta University
Augusta, GA

20 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in public administration has to look into Augusta University. Located in the midsize city of Augusta, Augusta University is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in public administration from Augusta University

3

Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA

30 Annual Graduates

$46,772 Median Starting Salary

Valdosta State University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public administration. VSU is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Valdosta.

Public Administration master's degree recipients from Valdosta State University receive an earnings boost of about $3,208 over the typical earnings of public administration majors.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Valdosta State University

4

Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA

30 Annual Graduates

$51,730 Median Starting Salary

Georgia State University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public administration. Located in the city of Atlanta, Georgia State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those public administration students who get their master's degree from Georgia State University receive $8,166 more than the typical public admin student.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Georgia State University

5

University of North Georgia
Dahlonega, GA

17 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Dahlonega, UNG is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration from University of North Georgia

5

Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA

11 Annual Graduates

$41,169 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Statesboro, GaSou is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduation, public admin master's recipients typically make around $41,169 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Georgia Southern University

6

Savannah State University
Savannah, GA

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Savannah, Savannah State University is a public university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in public administration from Savannah State University

7

Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, GA

42 Annual Graduates

$41,338 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Kennesaw, KSU Georgia is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public admin program state that they receive average early career income of $41,338.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Kennesaw State University

8

Clark Atlanta University
Atlanta, GA

13 Annual Graduates

CAU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Atlanta.More information about a master’s in public administration from Clark Atlanta University

9

Albany State University
Albany, GA

17 Annual Graduates

$36,994 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Albany, Albany State is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public admin program state that they receive average early career earnings of $36,994.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Albany State University

Best Public Administration Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	514
Virginia	182	394
North Carolina	178	341
Tennessee	166	69
Alabama	151	335
Kentucky	147	112
Louisiana	147	113
South Carolina	146	83
Mississippi	145	66
Arkansas	121	165
West Virginia	112	132

View All Rankings >

Public Administration Related Rankings by Major

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

Public Admin Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	379

Majors Similar to Public Admin

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Policy	18
Human Services	17

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 The Official CTBTO Photostream. More about our data sources and methodologies.