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2023 Most Focused Colleges for Public Policy in Texas

11 Ranked Colleges
317 Degrees Awarded
$35,000 Avg Cost*
Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas

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 Texas” ranking.

In 2020-2021, 6,430 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 113th most popular in the United States. 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.

For this year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas” ranking, we looked at 11 colleges that offer 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.

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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 “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas

The colleges and universities below are the best for texas public policy students.

Top 11 Most Focused Colleges for Public Policy in Texas

1
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, Texas

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rice University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas list. Rice University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Houston, Texas. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 34 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Rice University

2

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Methodist University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas list. Southern Methodist University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Dallas, Texas. It awarded 49 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full SMU Public Policy Report

3

Out of the 11 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas that were part of this year’s ranking, University of St. Thomas landed the #3 spot on the list. University of St. Thomas is located in Houston, Texas and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 9 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% 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 UST Public Policy Report

4

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Dallas Baptist University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas list. Located in Dallas, Texas, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 10 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Public Policy at DBU

5

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas list. UT Austin is a large public school situated in Austin, Texas. It awarded 115 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full UT Austin Public Policy Report

6

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas ranking. The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is a medium-sized public school situated in Houston, Texas. It awarded 10 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.8% 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 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.

Full UTHealth Public Policy Report

7

With a ranking of #7, The University of Texas at Dallas did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas list. UT Dallas is a large public school situated in Richardson, Texas. It awarded 52 ’s public policy 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 undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at The University of Texas at Dallas

8
UH crest
University of Houston
Houston, Texas

With a ranking of #8, University of Houston did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas list. UH is a large school located in Houston, Texas that handed out 21 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Public Policy at UH

9

Texas A&M University - College Station came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas ranking. Texas A&M University - College Station is located in College Station, Texas and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 15 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. 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%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Texas A&M University - College Station

10
Baylor crest
Baylor University
Waco, Texas

Baylor University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas ranking. Located in Waco, Texas, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 1 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Baylor University

11

The University of Texas at Arlington came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Texas ranking. UT Arlington is a public institution located in Arlington, Texas. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

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%.

Read more about Public Policy at The University of Texas at Arlington

Notes and References

References

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