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2023 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k

8 Ranked Colleges
604 Degrees Awarded
$17,800 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Public Administration is the 60th most popular major in the country with 16,905 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, public administration graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $51,352 and had an average of $29,054 in loans still to pay off.

Across Virginia, there were 604 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $48,548 and $29,668 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public administration. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public administration programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the public administration program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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The public admin school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia public admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia

1
Virginia Tech crest
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Tech. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. Blacksburg, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 44 students in 2020-2021.

Virginia Tech also took the #1 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Tech is $11,934 for Virginia Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Public Administration at Virginia Tech

2
JMU crest
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend James Madison University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. JMU is a public institution located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 79 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

JMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $14,288 for Virginia Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend James Madison University.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Read full report on Public Administration at James Madison University

3
GMU crest
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Mason University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k. GMU is a large public school situated in Fairfax, Virginia. It awarded 118 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at GMU, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for GMU is $14,781 for Virginia Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Administration at GMU

4
Old Dominion crest
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Old Dominion University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. Norfolk, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 44 students in 2020-2021.

Old Dominion also took the #6 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $13,335 for Virginia Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Old Dominion.

Read more about Public Administration at Old Dominion University

5

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #5 spot on the list. VCU is a large public school situated in Richmond, Virginia. It awarded 41 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our virginia public admin students whose families make $0-$30k list, VCU has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for VCU is $14,507 for virginia public admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University

6
Regent crest
Regent University
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Regent University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #6. This fairly large school is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and it awarded 32 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

Regent also took the #7 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Regent University is $20,479 for Virginia Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Public Administration at Regent University

7
Liberty University crest
Liberty University
Lynchburg, Virginia

Liberty University landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 196 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.

Liberty University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Liberty University is $29,786 for virginia public admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full Liberty University Public Administration Report

8
Strayer University - Virginia crest
Strayer University - Virginia
Arlington, Virginia

Strayer University - Virginia ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Arlington, Virginia, this small private for-profit school handed out 20 diplomas to qualified ’s public admin students in 2020-2021.

Strayer University - Virginia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Strayer University - Virginia is $22,996 for Virginia Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Public Administration at Strayer University - Virginia

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Notes and References

References

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