2023 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $48-$75k) in California
8
Ranked Colleges
798
Degrees Awarded
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking.
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 California, there were 798 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $52,313 and $22,744 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public policy programs that also have a lower cost than 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
One Size Does Not Fit All
When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k” list to help you make the college decision.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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 California For Those Making $48-$75k
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $48-$75k) in California
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #1 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 114 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our california public policy students whose families make $48-$75k list, UC Berkeley has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UC Berkeley is $13,423 for California Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Public Policy at University of California - Berkeley
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #2 spot on the list. UCLA is a large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 131 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
UCLA also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $12,644 for California Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend UCLA.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Public Policy at UCLA
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the #3 spot on the list. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 199 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
USC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list. It costs about $22,826 for california public policy students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend University of Southern California.
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%. 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. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of Southern California
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Riverside. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k. University of California - Riverside is a public institution located in Riverside, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 109 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UCR also took the #5 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Riverside is $11,126 for California Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of California - Riverside
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Irvine, California, this large public school awarded 14 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.
UC Irvine also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend UC Irvine is $13,275 for california public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Public Policy at University of California - Irvine
Mills College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. Oakland, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 31 students in 2020-2021.
Mills not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Mills College is $22,894 for california public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Mills
California Lutheran University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #7. California Lutheran University is located in Thousand Oaks, California and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 30 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
CLU also took the #9 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for CLU is $24,375 for california public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full California Lutheran University Public Policy Report
Pepperdine University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #8. Pepperdine is a fairly large school located in Malibu, California that handed out 31 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Pepperdine, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Pepperdine is $32,267 for california public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.
Read more about Public Policy at Pepperdine
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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
- *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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