2022 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration in Washington (With Aid)

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Public Administration is the 58th most popular major in the country with 17,269 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Washington, there were 356 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $52,720 and $42,126 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in public administration. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public administration programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public administration program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid”.

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 Washington For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration in Washington (With Aid)

#1

University of Washington - Seattle Campus

Seattle, Washington

#1 in overall quality

$13,297 Average Net Price

$56,034 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Seattle, Washington, and it awarded 224 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

UW Seattle also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Washington” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for UW Seattle is $13,297 for Washington Public Admin students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 2.2% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.

Read full report on Public Administration at University of Washington - Seattle Campus

#2

Eastern Washington University

Cheney, Washington

#3 in overall quality

$12,607 Average Net Price

$39,507 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Eastern Washington University landed the #2 spot on the list. EWU is a fairly large school located in Cheney, Washington that handed out 22 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our washington public admin students with aid list, EWU has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Washington” ranking. It costs about $12,607 for Washington Public Admin students with aid per year to attend EWU.

Full EWU Public Administration Report

#3

The Evergreen State College

Olympia, Washington

#4 in overall quality

$13,604 Average Net Price

$36,760 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The Evergreen State College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid list. Olympia, Washington is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 52 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Evergreen, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Washington” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for The Evergreen State College is $13,604 for washington public admin students with aid.

Read full report on Public Administration at Evergreen

#4

Seattle University

Seattle, Washington

#2 in overall quality

$34,802 Average Net Price

$46,297 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Seattle University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Washington For Those Getting Aid. Located in Seattle, Washington, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 57 diplomas to qualified ’s public admin students in 2019-2020.

Seattle U also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Washington” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Seattle University is $34,802 for washington public admin students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 2.1% 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%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read full report on Public Administration at Seattle U

• Best Value Colleges for Public Administration in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Colleges for Public Administration (With Aid)

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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