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2024 Best Public Administration Schools in Michigan

10 Colleges in Michigan
358 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$48,525 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in public administration is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #60 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 10 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Administration Schools in Michigan ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 358 degrees in public administration during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Public Administration School

Best Public Administration Schools in Michigan Your choice of public administration 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 administration schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Public Administration Degree Level

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

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 Administration Schools in Michigan list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. 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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Public Administration in Michigan

The schools below may not offer all types of public admin degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Michigan Schools in Public Admin

1
Central Michigan crest
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
78 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$53,173 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in public administration needs to take a look at Central Michigan University. Central Michigan is a fairly large public university located in the town of Mount Pleasant. A Best Colleges rank of #402 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Central Michigan is a great university overall.

There were about 78 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Central Michigan in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public administration program at Central Michigan University earn $4,648 above the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in public administration from Central Michigan University

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
88 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$41,649 Median Starting Salary

Grand Valley State University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a degree in public administration. GVSU is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Allendale. A Best Colleges rank of #399 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means GVSU is a great university overall.

There were about 88 public administration students who graduated with this degree at GVSU in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the public admin program make about $41,649 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in public administration from Grand Valley State University

3
Oakland crest
Oakland University
Rochester Hills, MI

Any student pursuing a degree in public administration needs to look into Oakland University. Oakland is a large public university located in the suburb of Rochester Hills. A Best Colleges rank of #447 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Oakland is a great university overall.

There were approximately 28 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Oakland in the most recent data year. Those public administration students who get their degree from Oakland University earn $3,752 more than the typical public admin grad.

More information about a degree in public administration from Oakland University

4

Any student pursuing a degree in public administration has to check out Eastern Michigan University. Eastern Michigan is a large public university located in the large suburb of Ypsilanti. This university ranks 20th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were about 28 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Eastern Michigan in the most recent data year. Public Administration degree recipients from Eastern Michigan University get an earnings boost of around $5,337 above the typical income of public administration graduates.

More information about a degree in public administration from Eastern Michigan University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$56,452 Median Starting Salary
$42,250 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #335 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means WMU is a great university overall.

There were about 26 public administration students who graduated with this degree at WMU in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the public administration degree program at Western Michigan University make $7,927 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in public administration from Western Michigan University

6
Saginaw Valley State University crest
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center, MI
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In MI
$30,750 Median Student Debt

Located in the medium-sized suburb of University Center, Saginaw Valley State University is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 25th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were approximately 17 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Saginaw Valley State University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in public administration from Saginaw Valley State University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
40 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$42,549 Median Starting Salary

Wayne State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Detroit. A Best Colleges rank of #381 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Wayne State is a great university overall.

There were approximately 40 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Wayne State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the public admin program report average early career earnings of $42,549.

More information about a degree in public administration from Wayne State University

8

Located in the town of Marquette, Northern Michigan University is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 34th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were about 11 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Northern Michigan University in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the public admin program make around $49,902 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in public administration from Northern Michigan University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
$49,640 Median Starting Salary

UM Dearborn is a medium-sized public university located in the medium-sized city of Dearborn. This university ranks 17th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were approximately 12 public administration students who graduated with this degree at UM Dearborn in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the public admin program state that they receive average early career income of $49,640.

More information about a degree in public administration from University of Michigan - Dearborn

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
$45,885 Median Starting Salary
$41,000 Median Student Debt

UM Flint is a moderately-sized public university located in the small city of Flint. This university ranks 40th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were about 29 public administration students who graduated with this degree at UM Flint in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the public admin program earn an average of $45,885 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in public administration from University of Michigan - Flint

Best Public Administration Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Public Administration Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Ohio314438
Illinois304429
Indiana2941,185
Wisconsin27391

View All Rankings >

One of 4 majors within the Public Administration & Social Service area of study, Public Administration has other similar majors worth exploring.

Public Admin Concentrations

MajorAnnual Graduates
Public Administration358

View All Public Admin Concentrations >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Community Organization & Advocacy291
Public Policy258
Human Services58
Other Public Administration3

View All Public Admin Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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