2023 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in the Plains States Region (With Aid)
8
Ranked Colleges
144
Degrees Awarded
$18,800
Avg Net Price*
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” 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 the Plains States region, there were 144 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $50,368 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 8 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.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the public policy program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid
The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region public policy students with aid.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in the Plains States Region (With Aid)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid list. Minneapolis, Minnesota is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 71 students in 2020-2021.
UMN Twin Cities also took the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UMN Twin Cities is $17,878 for plains states region public policy students with aid.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% 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 more about Public Policy at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Capella University landed the #2 spot on the list. Capella University is a large private for-profit school situated in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It awarded 8 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Capella University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Capella University is $16,545 for plains states region public policy students with aid.
Read full report on Public Policy at Capella University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Kansas. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid. KU is a large public school situated in Lawrence, Kansas. It awarded 1 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our plains states region public policy students with aid list, KU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. It costs about $20,257 for plains states region public policy students with aid per year to attend University of Kansas.
With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Kansas Public Policy Report
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Missouri Southern State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Missouri Southern State University is located in Joplin, Missouri and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 5 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
Missouri Southern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Missouri Southern is $9,526 for plains states region public policy students with aid.
Full Missouri Southern Public Policy Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northern Iowa. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid. University of Northern Iowa is a medium-sized public school situated in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It awarded 1 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
UNI not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UNI is $16,438 for Plains States Region Public Policy students with aid.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.8% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Public Policy at UNI
St Catherine University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid list. St. Kate’s is a private not-for-profit institution located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our plains states region public policy students with aid list, St. Kate’s has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for St. Kate’s is $17,814 for plains states region public policy students with aid.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.1% 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 more about Public Policy at St Catherine University
Washington University in St Louis landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Washington University in St Louis is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Saint Louis, Missouri. It awarded 28 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our plains states region public policy students with aid list, WUSTL has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend WUSTL is $26,921 for plains states region public policy students with aid.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Public Policy at Washington University in St Louis
With a ranking of #8, Saint Louis University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid list. Saint Louis, Missouri is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 1 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our plains states region public policy students with aid list, SLU has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Saint Louis University is $25,039 for plains states region public policy students with aid.
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%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Public Policy at SLU
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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.
Credits
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