2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region
13
Ranked Colleges
929
Degrees Awarded
$24,900
Avg Net Price*
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 in the New England Region” ranking - to help you make that decision.
Public Policy is the 113th most popular major in the country with 6,430 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $49,451 and had an average of $21,866 in loans still to pay off.
Across the New England region, there were 929 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,069 and $23,320 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” ranking, we looked at 13 colleges that offer 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.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the public policy program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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 in the New England Region”.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region.
Top 13 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in the New England Region
Out of the 13 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern Maine landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Southern Maine is located in Portland, Maine and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 27 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
University of Southern Maine also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list, coming in at #12. It costs about $12,055 for new england region public policy students per year to attend University of Southern Maine.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Public Policy at University of Southern Maine
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Simmons University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. Simmons University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 4 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Simmons not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Simmons is $27,920 for new england region public policy students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.4% 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%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read full report on Public Policy at Simmons University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of New Hampshire - Main Campus. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. University of New Hampshire - Main Campus is located in Durham, New Hampshire and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 17 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
UNH did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UNH is $24,160 for New England Region Public Policy students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Public Policy at UNH
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Massachusetts Amherst. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. Amherst, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 57 students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMass Amherst, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” ranking. It costs about $22,038 for new england region public policy students per year to attend UMass Amherst.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.9% 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%.
Read more about Public Policy at UMass Amherst
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Rhode Island. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. Kingston, Rhode Island is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 27 students in 2020-2021.
URI did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #13 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. It costs about $18,638 for New England Region Public Policy students per year to attend University of Rhode Island.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Public Policy at URI
With a ranking of #6, University of Connecticut did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. This large school is located in Storrs, Connecticut, and it awarded 63 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
UCONN did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for UCONN is $22,974 for New England Region Public Policy students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Connecticut Public Policy Report
With a ranking of #7, University of Massachusetts - Boston did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. University of Massachusetts - Boston is a fairly large public school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 25 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
UMass Boston did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. It costs about $17,752 for New England Region Public Policy students per year to attend University of Massachusetts - Boston.
Read full report on Public Policy at UMass Boston
Trinity College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region ranking. Trinity Bantams is a small school located in Hartford, Connecticut that handed out 55 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our new england region public policy students list, Trinity Bantams has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Trinity Bantams is $32,694 for new england region public policy students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Trinity Bantams
With a ranking of #9, Suffolk University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. Suffolk University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 9 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Suffolk not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #11 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Suffolk University is $30,995 for new england region public policy students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Suffolk
With a ranking of #10, Harvard University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. This large school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it awarded 193 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Harvard did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. It costs about $13,872 for new england region public policy students per year to attend Harvard.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% 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%.
Read more about Public Policy at Harvard University
Tufts University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list. Tufts is a private not-for-profit institution located in Medford, Massachusetts. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 9 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Tufts also took the #7 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Tufts is $37,494 for new england region public policy students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.1% 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%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Public Policy at Tufts University
Brandeis University landed the #12 spot on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region ranking. Brandeis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Waltham, Massachusetts. It awarded 185 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our new england region public policy students list, Brandeis has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” ranking. It costs about $33,663 for New England Region Public Policy students per year to attend Brandeis.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.
Full Brandeis University Public Policy Report
Brown University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Region ranking. Providence, Rhode Island is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 127 students in 2020-2021.
Brown not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region” list. It costs about $29,544 for new england region public policy students per year to attend Brown University.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Public Policy at Brown
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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
- *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
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