2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration (Income $75-$110k) in Virginia

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 17,269 people earned their degree in public administration, making the major the 58th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, public administration graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $48,859 and had an average of $42,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across Virginia, there were 515 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $49,860 and $39,579 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 96 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $75-$110k

The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia bachelor’s degree public admin students whose families make $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration (Income $75-$110k) in Virginia

#1

George Mason University

Fairfax, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$23,266 Average Net Price

$43,798 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Mason University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $75-$110k. Fairfax, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s public admin degrees to 23 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia bachelor’s degree public admin students whose families make $75-$110k list, GMU has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Public Administration Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for GMU is $23,266 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Public Admin students whose families make $75-$110k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Public Administration at George Mason University

#2

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$24,274 Average Net Price

$41,406 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend James Madison University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $75-$110k list. Harrisonburg, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s public admin degrees to 59 students in 2019-2020.

JMU also made our “Best Public Administration Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for James Madison University is $24,274 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Public Admin students whose families make $75-$110k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 2.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Administration at JMU

#3

Liberty University

Lynchburg, Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$29,843 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Liberty University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $75-$110k. This large school is located in Lynchburg, Virginia, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

Liberty University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Public Administration Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Liberty University is $29,843 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Public Admin students whose families make $75-$110k.

Full Liberty University Public Administration Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration (Income $75-$110k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration (Income $75-$110k)

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

Footnotes

• *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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to The Official CTBTO Photostream.

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