2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa 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. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 17,269 people earned their degree in public administration, making the major the 58th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, public administration graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $48,859 and had an average of $42,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 164 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $49,729 and $50,781 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in public administration. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public administration programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public administration program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for 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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

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

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$10,757 Average Net Price

$39,900 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northern Iowa. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. UNI is a public institution located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 11 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UNI did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Northern Iowa is $10,757 for Iowa Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 3.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Administration at UNI

#2

Buena Vista University

Storm Lake, Iowa

#4 in overall quality

$14,210 Average Net Price

$38,082 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Buena Vista University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Buena Vista University is a small school located in Storm Lake, Iowa that handed out 1 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

BVU also took the #4 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend BVU is $14,210 for Iowa Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Full Buena Vista University Public Administration Report

#3

Drake University

Des Moines, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$25,212 Average Net Price

$47,824 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Drake University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Des Moines, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 36 diplomas to qualified ’s public admin students in 2019-2020.

Drake also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $25,212 for Iowa Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Drake.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Public Administration at Drake

#4

Upper Iowa University

Fayette, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$21,427 Average Net Price

$41,815 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Upper Iowa University landed the #4 spot on the list. Upper Iowa University is a small school located in Fayette, Iowa that handed out 47 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

UIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend Upper Iowa University is $21,427 for Iowa Public Admin students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Public Administration at Upper Iowa University

• Best Value Colleges for Public Administration (Income $0-$30k) in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Colleges for Public Administration (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to The Official CTBTO Photostream.

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