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2024 Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region

13 Colleges in the New England Region
929 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
$40,069 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in public policy is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #113 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 13 schools in the New England Region to determine which ones were the best for public policy students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 929 degrees in public policy to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Public Policy School

Best Public Policy Schools in the New England Region Your choice of public policy school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for public policy schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Public Policy Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Public Policy
Master's Degrees in Public Policy
Doctor's Degrees in Public Policy

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 Public Policy Schools in the New England Region list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Public Policy in the New England Region

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the public policy degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top New England Region Schools in Public Policy

1
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
193 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
$76,875 Median Starting Salary

Harvard University is a good choice for students pursuing a degree in public policy. Located in the city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.

There were roughly 193 public policy students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public policy program at Harvard University earn $36,806 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in public policy from Harvard University

2
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
127 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
9.4% Growth in Graduates

It's difficult to beat Brown University if you want to pursue a degree in public policy. Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Providence. A Best Colleges rank of #21 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Brown is a great university overall.

There were roughly 127 public policy students who graduated with this degree at Brown in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public policy degree program at Brown University earn $14,349 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in public policy from Brown University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
185 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
16.8% Growth in Graduates

Brandeis University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in public policy. Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Waltham. This university ranks 14th out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were roughly 185 public policy students who graduated with this degree at Brandeis in the most recent year we have data available. Public Policy degree recipients from Brandeis University receive an earnings boost of approximately $3,182 over the typical income of public policy majors.

More information about a degree in public policy from Brandeis University

4
Trinity Bantams crest
Trinity College
Hartford, CT
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
55 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
23.6% Growth in Graduates

Trinity College is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in public policy. Located in the midsize city of Hartford, Trinity Bantams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 3rd out of 28 colleges for overall quality in the state of Connecticut.

There were about 55 public policy students who graduated with this degree at Trinity Bantams in the most recent data year. Public Policy degree recipients from Trinity College receive an earnings boost of around $10,495 above the average income of public policy graduates.

More information about a degree in public policy from Trinity College

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In MA

Located in the large city of Boston, UMass Boston is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 24th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were approximately 25 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UMass Boston in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of Massachusetts - Boston

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
63 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
22.2% Growth in Graduates

UCONN is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Storrs. A Best Colleges rank of #86 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCONN is a great university overall.

There were about 63 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UCONN in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the public policy program state that they receive average early career wages of $25,200.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of Connecticut

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
57 Public Policy Degrees Awarded
40.4% Growth in Graduates

UMass Amherst is a very large public university located in the suburb of Amherst. A Best Colleges rank of #81 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UMass Amherst is a great university overall.

There were about 57 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UMass Amherst in the most recent data year. Those public policy students who get their degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst earn $9,144 more than the typical public policy grad.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of Massachusetts Amherst

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In NH

UNH is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Durham. This university ranks 2nd out of 17 schools for overall quality in the state of New Hampshire.

There were roughly 17 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UNH in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of New Hampshire - Main Campus

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In MA

Located in the large city of Boston, Simmons is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #90 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Simmons is a great university overall.

There were roughly 4 public policy students who graduated with this degree at Simmons in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in public policy from Simmons University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In ME

University of Southern Maine is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Portland. This university ranks 7th out of 19 colleges for overall quality in the state of Maine.

There were approximately 27 public policy students who graduated with this degree at University of Southern Maine in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in public policy from University of Southern Maine

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

Explore the best public policy colleges for a specific state in the New England Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Massachusetts 301 504
Connecticut 241 142
New Hampshire 210 23
Maine 202 25
Rhode Island 200 154
Vermont 194 15

View All Rankings >

Public Policy is one of 4 different types of Public Administration & Social Service programs to choose from.

Public Policy Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis 663
Health Policy Analysis 173
International Policy Analysis 76
Education Policy Analysis 14
Other Public Policy Analysis 3

View All Public Policy Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Human Services 1,361
Public Administration 818
Community Organization & Advocacy 243
Other Public Administration 76

View All Public Policy Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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