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

4 Ranked Colleges
164 Degrees Awarded
$21,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

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 Iowa, there were 164 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $49,729 and $50,781 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 4 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.

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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 Iowa For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for iowa public admin students with aid.

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

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa
#2 in overall quality
$15,620 Average Net Price
$39,900 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northern Iowa. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this medium-sized public school handed out 11 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa public admin students with aid list, UNI has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $15,620 for Iowa Public Admin students with aid per year to attend University of Northern Iowa.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The low student loan default rate of 3.6% 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%.

Full University of Northern Iowa Public Administration Report

#2

Buena Vista University

Storm Lake, Iowa
#4 in overall quality
$17,544 Average Net Price
$38,082 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Buena Vista University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Located in Storm Lake, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 1 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2019-2020.

BVU also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #4. The yearly cost to attend BVU is $17,544 for Iowa Public Admin students with aid.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full BVU Public Administration Report

#3

Upper Iowa University

Fayette, Iowa
#3 in overall quality
$21,624 Average Net Price
$41,815 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Upper Iowa University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid. Upper Iowa University is a small school located in Fayette, Iowa that handed out 47 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

UIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” list. It costs about $21,624 for Iowa Public Admin students with aid per year to attend UIU.

Read more about Public Administration at Upper Iowa University

#4

Drake University

Des Moines, Iowa
#1 in overall quality
$29,432 Average Net Price
$47,824 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Drake University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Drake is located in Des Moines, Iowa and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 36 ’s public admin degrees to qualified students.

Drake did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend Drake is $29,432 for Iowa Public Admin students with aid.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Read full report on Public Administration at Drake

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.

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