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2024 Best Public Administration Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

40 Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
3,063 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$55,846 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 40 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Administration Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 3,063 degrees in public administration to qualified students.

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

Choosing a Great Public Administration School

Best Public Administration Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region The public admin program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Public Administration rankings. 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.

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.

Public Administration Rankings by Degree Level

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

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Public Administration Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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 the Middle Atlantic Region

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 Middle Atlantic Region Schools in Public Admin

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
178 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$76,016 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in public administration needs to check out New York University. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #27 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 178 public administration students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public administration program at New York University earn $20,170 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in public administration from New York University

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
241 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$74,201 Median Starting Salary

Columbia University in the City of New York is a wonderful option for students interested in a degree in public administration. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were about 241 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Public Administration degree recipients from Columbia University in the City of New York get an earnings boost of about $18,355 over the average earnings of public administration majors.

More information about a degree in public administration from Columbia University in the City of New York

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
91 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
35.2% Growth in Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in public administration. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 91 public administration students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public administration major at University of Pennsylvania earn $17,739 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in public administration from University of Pennsylvania

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
44 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$84,786 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in public administration needs to take a look at Johns Hopkins University. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.

There were roughly 44 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public administration major at Johns Hopkins University make $28,940 above the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in public administration from Johns Hopkins University

5
The American University crest
American University
Washington, DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
164 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$69,734 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #129 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means The American University is a great university overall.

There were about 164 public administration students who graduated with this degree at The American University in the most recent data year. Those public administration students who get their degree from American University earn $13,888 more than the standard public admin graduate.

More information about a degree in public administration from American University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
78 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$63,051 Median Starting Salary

Villanova is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Villanova. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Villanova is a great university overall.

There were roughly 78 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Villanova in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the public administration degree program at Villanova University make $7,205 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in public administration from Villanova University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
292 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
3.8% Growth in Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 12th out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were approximately 292 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, public admin degree recipients generally make an average of $53,347 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in public administration from Syracuse University

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
73 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$63,188 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.

There were roughly 73 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent year we have data available. Public Administration degree recipients from Cornell University earn a boost of around $7,342 over the average income of public administration graduates.

More information about a degree in public administration from Cornell University

9

Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.

There were roughly 19 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent year we have data available. Those public administration students who get their degree from Carnegie Mellon University receive $4,883 more than the average public admin student.

More information about a degree in public administration from Carnegie Mellon University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
134 Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$52,549 Median Starting Salary

Rutgers Newark is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Newark. This university ranks 6th out of 44 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.

There were about 134 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers Newark in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the public admin program make an average of $52,549 for their early career.

More information about a degree in public administration from Rutgers University - Newark

Best Public Administration Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration colleges for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Pennsylvania334405
New York3331,826
Maryland279240
New Jersey273348
District of Columbia188288
Delaware17529

View All Rankings >

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

Public Admin Focus Areas

MajorAnnual Graduates
Public Administration3,041
Public Administration (Other)22

View All Public Admin Focus Areas >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Human Services2,540
Public Policy1,536
Community Organization & Advocacy743
Other Public Administration247

View All Public Admin Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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