2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Public Policy is the 113th most popular major in the country with 6,430 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $49,451 and had an average of $21,866 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 320 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $67,076 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in public policy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great public policy 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 policy program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to 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 Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in District of Columbia

1

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$3,077 Average Net Price

$69,885 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Georgetown University landed the #1 spot on the list. Georgetown is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 201 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our district of columbia public policy students whose families make $0-$30k list, Georgetown has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Georgetown is $3,077 for district of columbia public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Public Policy at Georgetown

2

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$17,673 Average Net Price

$65,148 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Washington University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k. George Washington University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 69 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

GWU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia” list. The yearly cost to attend George Washington University is $17,673 for district of columbia public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%.

Read full report on Public Policy at George Washington University

3

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$21,108 Average Net Price

$50,575 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $0-$30k list. This fairly large school is located in Washington, District of Columbia, and it awarded 50 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The American University also took the #3 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend American University is $21,108 for district of columbia public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, 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%.

Read more about Public Policy at American University

• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k)

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.