2024 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in Texas
7
Ranked Colleges
317
Degrees Awarded
$22,500
Avg Net Price*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Texas” 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 Texas, there were 317 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $42,349 and $19,062 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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 in Texas” list to help you make the college decision.
To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools 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 in Texas
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas.
Top 7 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in Texas
Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Texas at Austin landed the #1 spot on the list. Austin, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 115 students in 2020-2021.
UT Austin did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Texas” list. The estimated yearly cost for UT Austin is $18,350 for texas public policy students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full The University of Texas at Austin Public Policy Report
Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Texas at Dallas landed the #2 spot on the list. UT Dallas is located in Richardson, Texas and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 52 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UT Dallas, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Texas” ranking. The yearly cost to attend The University of Texas at Dallas is $15,526 for Texas Public Policy students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at The University of Texas at Dallas
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Texas A&M University - College Station. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas. This large school is located in College Station, Texas, and it awarded 15 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Texas A&M College Station did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Texas” list. The estimated yearly cost for Texas A&M University - College Station is $18,919 for texas public policy students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, 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 93%.
Full Texas A&M College Station Public Policy Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Houston. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas. Located in Houston, Texas, this large public school awarded 21 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.
UH not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Texas” list. It costs about $13,721 for Texas Public Policy students per year to attend University of Houston.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, 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 University of Houston
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Arlington. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas list. Arlington, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 1 students in 2020-2021.
UT Arlington did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Texas” list. The estimated yearly cost for The University of Texas at Arlington is $15,509 for Texas Public Policy students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.6% 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 The University of Texas at Arlington Public Policy Report
Baylor University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas ranking. Baylor University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Waco, Texas. It awarded 1 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Baylor also took the #6 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Texas” ranking. It costs about $37,309 for texas public policy students per year to attend Baylor.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.2% 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 school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Baylor University Public Policy Report
Southern Methodist University landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Texas ranking. Located in Dallas, Texas, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 49 diplomas to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at SMU, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Texas” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Southern Methodist University is $38,208 for Texas Public Policy students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Southern Methodist University
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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.
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