2024 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in Massachusetts
7
Ranked Colleges
551
Degrees Awarded
$26,200
Avg Net Price*
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking.
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 Massachusetts, there were 551 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $53,148 and $25,000 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking analyzed 7 colleges that offered 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
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 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. 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 in Massachusetts
The colleges and universities below are the best for massachusetts public policy students.
Top 7 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in Massachusetts
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Massachusetts Amherst. It ranked #1 on our 2024 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts list. UMass Amherst is a large school located in Amherst, Massachusetts that handed out 57 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our massachusetts public policy students list, UMass Amherst has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. It costs about $22,038 for massachusetts public policy students per year to attend University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of Massachusetts Amherst
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Massachusetts - Boston. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts - Boston is located in Boston, Massachusetts and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 25 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UMass Boston, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UMass Boston is $17,752 for massachusetts public policy students.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of Massachusetts - Boston
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Simmons University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts. This medium-sized school is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and it awarded 4 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Simmons also took the #6 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Simmons University is $27,920 for massachusetts 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%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.
Full Simmons University Public Policy Report
Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, Suffolk University landed the #4 spot on the list. Suffolk University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 9 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Suffolk not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” list. The yearly cost to attend Suffolk University is $30,995 for massachusetts public policy students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.3% 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%.
Full Suffolk Public Policy Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvard University. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts list. This large school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it awarded 193 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Harvard, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Harvard University is $13,872 for massachusetts public policy students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 7 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 excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Public Policy at Harvard
With a ranking of #6, Tufts University did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts list. This fairly large school is located in Medford, Massachusetts, and it awarded 9 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Tufts, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Tufts is $37,494 for massachusetts public policy students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 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 Tufts University
Brandeis University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts ranking. Waltham, Massachusetts is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 185 students in 2020-2021.
Brandeis not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Massachusetts” list. The yearly cost to attend Brandeis is $33,663 for Massachusetts Public Policy students.
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%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Public Policy at Brandeis
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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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