Public Policy is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #113 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Policy Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 853 degrees in public policy to qualified students.
Your choice of public policy school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Public Policy School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Public Policy Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
The schools below may not offer all types of public policy degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Any student who is interested in public policy needs to take a look at University of Southern California. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 199 public policy students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Those public policy students who get their degree from University of Southern California make $9,760 more than the standard public policy grad.
Every student who is interested in public policy needs to take a look at University of California - Berkeley. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were approximately 119 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public policy program at University of California - Berkeley make $32,069 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
BS in Business Administration - Public AdministrationProgram Name
Prepare yourself to make the decisions that best serve a community, its constituents and its economic growth with this specialized business degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
It's hard to beat University of California - Riverside if you wish to pursue a degree in public policy. UCR is a fairly large public university located in the city of Riverside. This university ranks 28th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 114 public policy students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the public policy program state that they receive average early career wages of $40,032.
University of Redlands is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in public policy. University of Redlands is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Redlands. This university ranks 53rd out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 21 public policy students who graduated with this degree at University of Redlands in the most recent data year. After graduating, public policy degree recipients usually earn about $37,888 in their early careers.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
Your choice of public policy school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Public Policy School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
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