by our College Data Analytics Team
[Public Policy](/majors/social-services-public-administration/public-policy/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong public policy education at a price that pays off.
To produce this 2027 ranking, College Factual evaluated 1 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for public policy students.
What’s on this page:
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in public policy, balancing cost against outcomes.
For return on investment in public policy, no school beat University Of Utah this year. Set in the city of Salt Lake City, University Of Utah is a very large public institution. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $9,620, with out-of-state students paying around $30,860. Public Policy graduates carry a median of $20,798 in student loans. Early-career public policy graduates make about $61,434. That is a strong return on a $20,798 median debt. The acceptance rate is 86%.
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2027 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 1 school evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the one ranked school only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.