2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 Washington, there were 32 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,057 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 22 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,852 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their public policy program is one of the largest majors offered 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 “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington”.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington

The colleges and universities below are the best for washington master’s degree public policy students.

Top 3 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Washington

1

University of Washington - Bothell Campus
Bothell, Washington

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Washington - Bothell Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington. This medium-sized school is located in Bothell, Washington, and it awarded 18 masters’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Read full report on Public Policy at UW Bothell

2

Washington State University
Pullman, Washington

#3 overall quality in Washington

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Washington State University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington. This large school is located in Pullman, Washington, and it awarded 4 masters’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%.

Read more about Public Policy at Washington State University

3

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, Washington

#1 overall quality in Washington

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Washington that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Seattle, Washington, this large public school handed out 0 diplomas to qualified masters’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.1% 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%.

Full UW Seattle Public Policy Report

• Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in the Far Western US Region
• Most Focused 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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.