2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Washington

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Washington” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Public Policy is the 116th most popular major in the country with 6,199 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Washington, there were 48 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,100 and $44,441 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 26 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,202 and $21,977 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Washington” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in public policy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public policy programs that also have a lower cost than 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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 for a Bachelor’s in Washington” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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 for a Bachelor’s in Washington

The colleges and universities below are the best for washington bachelor’s degree public policy students.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Washington

#1

Central Washington University

Ellensburg, Washington

#1 in overall quality

$15,397 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Central Washington University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Washington. Central Washington University is a fairly large school located in Ellensburg, Washington that handed out 6 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

CWU also took the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Washington” ranking. It costs about $15,397 for Washington Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students per year to attend CWU.

Full Central Washington University Public Policy Report

#2

Washington State University

Pullman, Washington

#2 in overall quality

$16,358 Average Net Price

$32,925 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Washington State University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Washington list. Wazzu is a public institution located in Pullman, Washington. The school has a large population, and it awarded 20 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Wazzu not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Washington” list. It costs about $16,358 for washington bachelor’s degree public policy students per year to attend Wazzu.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Wazzu Public Policy Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy

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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