2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $30-$48k) in California

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 Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Public Policy is the 116th most popular major in the country with 6,199 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,077 and had an average of $35,743 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 722 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $55,286 and $47,721 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 9 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in public policy. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public policy 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 policy program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy 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 Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. 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 Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 2 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#1 in overall quality

$29,347 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. University of California - Berkeley is located in Berkeley, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 6 doctorate’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our california doctor’s degree public policy students whose families make $30-$48k list, UC Berkeley has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Berkeley are $29,347, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Public Policy at UC Berkeley

#2

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

#2 in overall quality

$48,715 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Southern California. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 2 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

USC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at USC are $48,715, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Public Policy at USC

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $30-$48k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $30-$48k)

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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