2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia” ranking.

In 2021-2022, 16,043 people earned their degree in public administration, making the major the 60th most popular in the United States. In , public administration graduates who were awarded their degree in , earned an average of $51,600 and had an average of $39,769 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 265 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,659 and $66,356 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 256 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,686 and $62,807 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public administration. That schools that top this list have a program in public administration in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Public Administration Schools

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 “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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.

Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia master’s degree public admin students.

Top 7 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration in District of Columbia

1

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 overall quality in District of Columbia

$69,734 Average Early-Career Earnings

$55,000 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend American University. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia. The American University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 155 masters’s public admin degrees in 2021-2022.

With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full American University Public Administration Report

2

University of the District of Columbia
Washington, District of Columbia

#8 overall quality in District of Columbia

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, University of the District of Columbia landed the #2 spot on the list. Washington, District of Columbia is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s public admin degrees to 2 students in 2021-2022.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Full University of the District of Columbia Public Administration Report

5

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 overall quality in District of Columbia

$71,996 Average Early-Career Earnings

$46,979 Average Student Debt

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in Washington, District of Columbia, and it awarded 60 masters’s public admin degrees in 2021-2022.

With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Administration at GWU

6

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 overall quality in District of Columbia

Georgetown University landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia ranking. Georgetown University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 13 masters’s public admin degrees to qualified students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.2% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 98%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Full Georgetown Public Administration Report

7

Howard University
Washington, District of Columbia

#6 overall quality in District of Columbia

Howard University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Public Admin Major in District of Columbia ranking, coming in at #7. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 0 degrees to qualified masters’s public admin students in 2021-2022.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Administration at Howard

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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.