2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Massachusetts (With Aid)

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 6,199 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 116th most popular in the United States. 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 Massachusetts, there were 562 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $54,833 and $39,641 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 106 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $42,887 and $24,387 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great public policy programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the public policy program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

The public policy 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 “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Massachusetts (With Aid)

#1

Suffolk University

Boston, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$30,701 Average Net Price

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Suffolk University landed the #1 spot on the list. Suffolk University is located in Boston, Massachusetts and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

Suffolk also made our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Suffolk is $30,701 for massachusetts bachelor’s degree public policy students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Suffolk

#2

Brandeis University

Waltham, Massachusetts

#1 in overall quality

$31,165 Average Net Price

$38,906 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Brandeis University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Massachusetts For Those Getting Aid list. Waltham, Massachusetts is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 88 students in 2019-2020.

Brandeis not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts” list. The estimated yearly cost for Brandeis University is $31,165 for Massachusetts Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students with aid.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.

Full Brandeis Public Policy Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in the New England Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (With Aid)

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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