2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2020-2021, 6,430 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 113th most popular in the United States. 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 $48-$75k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public policy programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public policy program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The public policy 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 “Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k”.

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 District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $48-$75k) in District of Columbia

1

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$12,505 Average Net Price

$69,885 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Georgetown University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 201 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

Georgetown did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Georgetown is $12,505 for district of columbia public policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

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 0.7% 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%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Georgetown University

2

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$21,174 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 $48-$75k. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 69 diplomas to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

GWU also took the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend George Washington University is $21,174 for District of Columbia Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Public Policy at George Washington University

3

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$27,374 Average Net Price

$50,575 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, American University landed the #3 spot on the list. The American University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 50 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at The American University, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend American University is $27,374 for District of Columbia Public Policy students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, 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 full report on Public Policy at American University

• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $48-$75k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $48-$75k)

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.