2023 Most Focused Colleges for Public Policy in Massachusetts
14
Ranked Colleges
551
Degrees Awarded
$37,700
Avg Cost*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major 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 “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts” ranking analyzed 14 colleges that offered a degree 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.
Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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 “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts”.
In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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 Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts”.
Top 14 Most Focused Colleges for Public Policy in Massachusetts
Out of the 14 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, Brandeis University landed the #1 spot on the list. Brandeis is a private not-for-profit institution located in Waltham, Massachusetts. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 185 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.2% 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 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.
Full Brandeis Public Policy Report
Out of the 14 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, Harvard University landed the #2 spot on the list. Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 193 ’s public policy degrees to qualified 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 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about Public Policy at Harvard University
Out of the 14 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth is a medium-sized school located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts that handed out 56 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Massachusetts - Boston. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts list. UMass 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.
Full University of Massachusetts - Boston Public Policy Report
Out of the 14 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Massachusetts Amherst landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in Amherst, Massachusetts, and it awarded 57 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
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%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full University of Massachusetts Amherst Public Policy Report
Suffolk University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts ranking. Suffolk University is located in Boston, Massachusetts and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 9 ’s public policy degrees to qualified 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%.
Read more about Public Policy at Suffolk
Bentley University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts ranking. Bentley is a private not-for-profit institution located in Waltham, Massachusetts. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 4 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Bentley
College of the Holy Cross landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts ranking. This small school is located in Worcester, Massachusetts, and it awarded 2 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. 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%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Holy Cross
Tufts University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts ranking, coming in at #9. Tufts is a fairly large school located in Medford, Massachusetts that handed out 9 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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. 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%.
Full Tufts University Public Policy Report
Simmons University landed the #10 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and it awarded 4 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
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. 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%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Simmons
Boston University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts ranking, coming in at #11. Boston, Massachusetts is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 3 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. 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. With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full Boston University Public Policy Report
Hampshire College ranked #12 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts list. Hampshire is a small school located in Amherst, Massachusetts that handed out 0 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about Public Policy at Hampshire
Northeastern University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts ranking. This large school is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and it awarded 0 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, 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 97%.
Read more about Public Policy at Northeastern
With a ranking of #12, Assumption University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Massachusetts list. This small school is located in Worcester, Massachusetts, and it awarded 0 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.4% 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%.
Read full report on Public Policy at Assumption
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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
- *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
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