2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $75-$110k) in the Southwest Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 6,199 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 116th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,077 and had an average of $35,743 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 536 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,050 and $23,421 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 285 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,896 and $23,899 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree 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.

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.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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 for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools 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 for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $75-$110k) in the Southwest Region

#1

The University of Texas at Dallas

Richardson, Texas

#2 in overall quality

$20,552 Average Net Price

$35,060 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Dallas. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. Located in Richardson, Texas, this large public school handed out 25 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k list, UT Dallas has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $20,552 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend The University of Texas at Dallas.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at The University of Texas at Dallas

#1

Arizona State University - Skysong

Scottsdale, Arizona

#3 in overall quality

$20,321 Average Net Price

$37,110 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Arizona State University - Skysong. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k. Arizona State University - Skysong is a public institution located in Scottsdale, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 84 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

ASU - Skysong not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Arizona State University - Skysong is $20,321 for southwest region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k.

Read full report on Public Policy at Arizona State University - Skysong

#2

Southern Methodist University

Dallas, Texas

#1 in overall quality

$34,587 Average Net Price

$38,289 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Methodist University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $75-$110k. Located in Dallas, Texas, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 41 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

SMU also took the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SMU is $34,587 for southwest region bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full SMU Public Policy Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $75-$110k)

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.

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