2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in California

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Doctorate in California” 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 California, there were 722 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $55,286 and $47,721 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 9 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California” 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.

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.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

The public policy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 Doctorate in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#1 in overall quality

$29,347 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California list. University of California - Berkeley is a large public school situated in Berkeley, California. It awarded 6 doctorate’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Berkeley are $29,347, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Public Policy at University of California - Berkeley

#2

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

#2 in overall quality

$48,715 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Southern California. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s public policy degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

USC also made our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Southern California are $48,715.

Read more about Public Policy at University of Southern California

#2

Loma Linda University

Loma Linda, California

#3 in overall quality

$30,640 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loma Linda University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California list. Located in Loma Linda, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 1 degrees to qualified doctorate’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california doctor’s degree public policy students list, Loma Linda University has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Loma Linda University are $30,640, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Loma Linda University Public Policy Report

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