When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Most Well Attended Public Admin Major” ranking.
Public Administration is the 60th most popular major in the country with 16,905 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, public administration graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $51,352 and had an average of $29,054 in loans still to pay off.
This year’s “Most Well Attended Public Admin Major” ranking looked at 472 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public administration. To top this list, a school must have a successful public administration program that graduates more students in the field than other colleges that offer the same major.
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 “Most Well Attended Public Admin Major”.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Most Well Attended Public Admin Major
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Well Attended Public Admin Major”.
Top 25 Most Popular Colleges for Public Administration
Out of the 472 schools in the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #1 spot on the list. Indiana University - Bloomington is located in Bloomington, Indiana and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 757 ’s public admin degrees to qualified students.
With a freshman retention rate of 91%, 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%.
Out of the 472 schools in the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #2 spot on the list. Columbia University in the City of New York is a private not-for-profit institution located in New York, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 374 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Out of the 472 schools in the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Walden University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this large private for-profit school handed out 301 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Northridge. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. Located in Northridge, California, this large public school awarded 309 diplomas to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend John Jay College of Criminal Justice. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a public institution located in New York, New York. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 280 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Syracuse University ranked #6 on this year’s Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. This large school is located in Syracuse, New York, and it awarded 281 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Grand Canyon University landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit institution located in Phoenix, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 221 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 5.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Florida International University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. Located in Miami, Florida, this large public school awarded 262 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Baruch College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. This fairly large school is located in New York, New York, and it awarded 208 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of Phoenix - Arizona came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. University of Phoenix - Arizona is a large private for-profit school situated in Tempe, Arizona. It awarded 196 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
Barry University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking, coming in at #11. Barry University is a medium-sized school located in Miami, Florida that handed out 195 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #12, Harvard University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. This large school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it awarded 193 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
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 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.
New York University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. New York, New York is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 191 students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking, coming in at #14. Ohio State University - Main Campus is a large school located in Columbus, Ohio that handed out 185 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad 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%.
Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis ranked #15 on this year’s Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, this large public school handed out 190 diplomas to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Liberty University ranked #16 on this year’s Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. Liberty University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Lynchburg, Virginia. It awarded 196 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
San Diego State University landed the #17 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. SDSU is a large school located in San Diego, California that handed out 172 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad 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%.
American University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking, coming in at #18. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 175 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
University of Central Florida landed the #18 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. UCF is located in Orlando, Florida and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 222 ’s public admin degrees to qualified students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a public institution located in Seattle, Washington. The school has a large population, and it awarded 170 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
University of Southern California came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. USC is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 164 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus ranked #22 on this year’s Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. Located in Denver, Colorado, this large public school handed out 160 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
University of Hawaii - West Oahu ranked #23 on this year’s Most Well Attended Public Admin Major list. This small school is located in Kapolei, Hawaii, and it awarded 139 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.8% 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%.
Rutgers University - Newark came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. Rutgers Newark is a public institution located in Newark, New Jersey. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 139 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.
California State University - Dominguez Hills landed the #25 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Admin Major ranking. This fairly large school is located in Carson, California, and it awarded 129 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.1% 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%.
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%.
*Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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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