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

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Virginia” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 Virginia, there were 477 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $53,725 and $29,647 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 190 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in public policy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great public policy programs and 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Virginia” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia

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

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

#1

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$21,198 Average Net Price

$43,798 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Tech landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Blacksburg, Virginia, this large public school handed out 28 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

Virginia Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Tech is $21,198 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students.

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 student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Virginia Tech

#2

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$20,397 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, this large public school handed out 82 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

University of Virginia not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $20,397 for virginia bachelor’s degree public policy students per year to attend University of Virginia.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at University of Virginia

#3

William & Mary

Williamsburg, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$19,800 Average Net Price

$39,369 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend William & Mary. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia list. William & Mary is a medium-sized public school situated in Williamsburg, Virginia. It awarded 54 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

William & Mary did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $19,800 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students per year to attend William & Mary.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at William & Mary

#4

Regent University

Virginia Beach, Virginia

#4 in overall quality

$15,267 Average Net Price

$33,281 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Regent University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia list. Virginia Beach, Virginia is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 26 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Regent, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Regent University is $15,267 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students.

Full Regent Public Policy Report

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