2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in Massachusetts

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Doctorate in Massachusetts” 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 Massachusetts, there were 562 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $54,833 and $39,641 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 60 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $73,213 and $99,210 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in Massachusetts” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Massachusetts”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to 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 Doctorate in Massachusetts

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

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

#1

University of Massachusetts - Boston

Boston, Massachusetts

#3 in overall quality

$36,485 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Massachusetts - Boston landed the #1 spot on the list. UMass Boston is a fairly large school located in Boston, Massachusetts that handed out 15 doctorate’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UMass Boston did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Massachusetts - Boston are $36,485, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full University of Massachusetts - Boston Public Policy Report

#2

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

#1 in overall quality

$50,654 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$89,530 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvard University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in Massachusetts. Cambridge, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s public policy degrees to 24 students in 2019-2020.

Harvard also made our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Harvard University are $50,654.

Read full report on Public Policy at Harvard

#3

Brandeis University

Waltham, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$52,060 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$77,715 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, Brandeis University landed the #3 spot on the list. Waltham, Massachusetts is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s public policy degrees to 15 students in 2019-2020.

Brandeis also made our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts” list, coming in at #2. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Brandeis are $52,060.

Read full report on Public Policy at Brandeis

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in the New England 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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