2025 Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Virginia
If you pursue a master's degree in
public administration, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #19 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 6 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Virginia ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 351 master's degrees in public administration during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Public Administration School for Your Master's Degree
The public admin master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on public administration students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of public administration students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How much debt public administration students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized public administration related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for public administration students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Public Administration Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Virginia list, to help you choose the best school for you.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Public Administration in Virginia
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for public administration students seeking a a master's degree.
Top Virginia Schools for a Master's in Public Admin
Virginia Tech is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in public administration. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Blacksburg.
Master's recipients from the public administration program at Virginia Tech get $14,073 more than the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a master’s in public administration from Virginia Tech
George Mason University is a great choice for students pursuing a master's degree in public administration. Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those public administration students who get their master's degree from George Mason University make $18,028 more than the average public admin graduate.
More information about a master’s in public administration from George Mason University
Liberty University is a great option for students pursuing a master's degree in public administration. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Lynchburg.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the public admin program earn an average of $57,882 for their early career.
More information about a master’s in public administration from Liberty University
James Madison University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in public administration. Located in the small city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration from James Madison University
VCU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Richmond.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the public admin program make an average of $53,777 in their early career salary.
More information about a master’s in public administration from Virginia Commonwealth University
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