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2025 Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

6 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
304 Bachelor's Degrees
$47,859 Avg Early-Career Salary
a bachelor's degree in public policy is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #121 out of 363 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 2025, College Factual analyzed 6 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 304 bachelor's degrees in public policy during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Public Policy School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region The public policy bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality public policy program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public policy students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Public Policy Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Public Policy in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in public policy.

Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Public Policy

1

University of Chicago is a good choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in public policy. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Those public policy students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Chicago receive $12,198 more than the typical public policy grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Chicago

2

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in public policy needs to take a look at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. U-M is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.

Soon after graduation, public policy bachelor's recipients typically make about $49,685 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

3

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in public policy. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the public policy program earn about $48,558 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from Northwestern University

4

Ohio State University - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in public policy. Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Columbus.

Bachelor's recipients from the public policy program at Ohio State University - Main Campus get $2,784 more than the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from Ohio State University - Main Campus

5
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
19 Annual Graduates
$43,005 Median Starting Salary
$30,925 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the public policy program report average early career earnings of $43,005.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from Michigan State University

6

UIC is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Chicago.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the public policy program earn an average of $35,205 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Illinois at Chicago

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

Explore the best public policy schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 97
Ohio 252 22
Illinois 241 186

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One of 4 majors within the Public Administration & Social Service area of study, Public Policy has other similar majors worth exploring.

Public Policy Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis 285
International Policy Analysis 10
Education Policy Analysis 9

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Administration 752
Human Services 276
Community Organization & Advocacy 223
Other Public Administration 28

Notes and References

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