2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Master’s in Maryland

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 Master’s in Maryland” 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 Maryland, there were 223 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $49,250 and $28,785 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 116 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,477 and $45,000 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Master’s in Maryland” ranking, we looked at 3 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.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Master’s in Maryland” list to help you make the college 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Master’s in Maryland

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

Top 3 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Maryland

#1

University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, Maryland

#1 in overall quality

$30,885 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$68,631 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Maryland - College Park. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Master’s in Maryland list. UMCP is a public institution located in College Park, Maryland. The school has a large population, and it awarded 72 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UMCP also took the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Maryland” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Maryland - College Park are $30,885, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UMCP Public Policy Report

#2

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Baltimore, Maryland

#3 in overall quality

$21,078 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$57,318 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Maryland - Baltimore County. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Master’s in Maryland list. This fairly large school is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and it awarded 17 masters’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our maryland master’s degree public policy students list, UMBC has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Maryland” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Maryland - Baltimore County are $21,078.

Full UMBC Public Policy Report

#3

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland

#2 in overall quality

$59,425 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$69,338 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Johns Hopkins University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Master’s in Maryland. Johns Hopkins University is a large school located in Baltimore, Maryland that handed out 27 masters’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Johns Hopkins, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Maryland” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Johns Hopkins University are $59,425.

Read full report on Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University

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