2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid
8
Ranked Colleges
798
Degrees Awarded
$22,400
Avg Net Price*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2020-2021, 6,430 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 113th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $49,451 and had an average of $21,866 in loans still to pay off.
Across California, there were 798 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $52,313 and $22,744 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in public policy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public policy programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public policy program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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 in California For Those Getting Aid”.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons 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.
Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid
The colleges and universities below are the best for california public policy students with aid.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in California (With Aid)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid list. UC Berkeley is a large school located in Berkeley, California that handed out 114 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
UC Berkeley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list. It costs about $16,032 for California Public Policy students with aid per year to attend UC Berkeley.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% 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%.
Full UC Berkeley Public Policy Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 131 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list. It costs about $15,023 for California Public Policy students with aid per year to attend University of California - Los Angeles.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Public Policy at UCLA
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Riverside landed the #3 spot on the list. University of California - Riverside is a large school located in Riverside, California that handed out 109 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our california public policy students with aid list, UCR has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $11,822 for california public policy students with aid per year to attend UCR.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad 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%.
Full University of California - Riverside Public Policy Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid. This large school is located in Irvine, California, and it awarded 14 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Irvine, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UC Irvine is $12,209 for California Public Policy students with aid.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full UC Irvine Public Policy Report
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the #5 spot on the list. University of Southern California is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 199 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.
USC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Southern California is $32,569 for California Public Policy students with aid.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full USC Public Policy Report
Mills College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Oakland, California, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 31 diplomas to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.
Mills also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list, coming in at #7. The yearly cost to attend Mills is $24,949 for California Public Policy students with aid.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Public Policy at Mills
California Lutheran University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid list. CLU is located in Thousand Oaks, California and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 30 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at CLU, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CLU is $27,410 for california public policy students with aid.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Public Policy at California Lutheran University
With a ranking of #8, Pepperdine University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in California For Those Getting Aid list. Pepperdine is located in Malibu, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 31 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.
Pepperdine also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in California” list, coming in at #10. The yearly cost to attend Pepperdine is $38,846 for California Public Policy students with aid.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% 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%.
Read more about Public Policy at Pepperdine University
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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
- *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
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