2024 Best Public Policy Master's Degree Schools
Public Policy is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #55 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual looked at 65 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Public Policy Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,153 master's degrees in public policy during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Public Policy School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of public policy for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality public policy program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
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 Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
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 policy students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other public policy 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 much debt public policy students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized public policy related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public policy students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Public Policy Master's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Featured Public Policy Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
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Fit new strategic skills into your public service passion and goals when you earn an MBA in Public Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
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Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Public Policy in the United States
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in public policy.
10 Top Schools for a Master's in Public Policy
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in public policy has to check out Harvard University. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Cambridge.
Master's recipients from the public policy degree program at Harvard University make $19,278 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a master’s in public policy from Harvard University
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in public policy needs to check out University of Chicago. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those public policy students who get their master's degree from University of Chicago receive $13,524 more than the average public policy grad.
More information about a master’s in public policy from University of Chicago
It's difficult to beat Princeton University if you want to pursue a master's degree in public policy. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Princeton.
Public Policy master's degree recipients from Princeton University earn a boost of approximately $17,533 above the typical income of public policy graduates.
More information about a master’s in public policy from Princeton University
It's difficult to beat Duke University if you want to pursue a master's degree in public policy. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Master's recipients from the public policy major at Duke University make $10,004 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a master’s in public policy from Duke University
UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.More information about a master’s in public policy from University of California - Berkeley
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