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

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 New York, there were 355 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $54,050 and $31,052 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 236 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,973 and $22,589 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York” ranking looked at 4 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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 for a Bachelor’s in New York” 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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in New York

#1

University at Albany

Albany, New York

#3 in overall quality

$18,577 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York that were part of this year’s ranking, University at Albany landed the #1 spot on the list. Albany, New York is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 54 students in 2019-2020.

UAlbany also made our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in New York” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $18,577 for New York Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students per year to attend UAlbany.

Read more about Public Policy at UAlbany

#2

SUNY Empire State College

Saratoga Springs, New York

#4 in overall quality

$12,142 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend SUNY Empire State College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York. SUNY Empire is a fairly large public school situated in Saratoga Springs, New York. It awarded 51 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

SUNY Empire also made our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in New York” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for SUNY Empire State College is $12,142 for new york bachelor’s degree public policy students.

Full SUNY Empire State College Public Policy Report

#3

Siena College

Loudonville, New York

#2 in overall quality

$27,479 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York that were part of this year’s ranking, Siena College landed the #3 spot on the list. Siena is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Loudonville, New York. It awarded 18 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Siena, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in New York” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Siena College is $27,479 for New York Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.5% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Siena College Public Policy Report

#4

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

#1 in overall quality

$40,126 Average Net Price

$69,897 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Cornell University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in New York. Ithaca, New York is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 58 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cornell, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in New York” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Cornell is $40,126 for new york bachelor’s degree public policy students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Cornell University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in the Middle Atlantic 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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