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2023 Most Popular Colleges for Public Policy in the Southwest Region

17 Ranked Colleges
585 Degrees Awarded
$33,200 Avg Cost*
Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 the Southwest region, there were 585 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,714 and $21,641 respectively.

This year’s “Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region” ranking looked at 17 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. This ranking identifies schools that graduate the most students in public policy.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region public policy students.

1

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Arizona State University - Tempe. The school came in at #1 for the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region. Arizona State University - Tempe is a public institution located in Tempe, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 124 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at ASU - Tempe

2

Out of the 17 schools in the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Texas at Austin landed the #2 spot on the list. Austin, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 115 students in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UT Austin Public Policy Report

3

Out of the 17 schools in the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Arizona State University - Skysong landed the #3 spot on the list. ASU - Skysong is a large public school situated in Scottsdale, Arizona. It awarded 98 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Arizona State University - Skysong Public Policy Report

4

Out of the 17 schools in the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Methodist University landed the #4 spot on the list. Dallas, Texas is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 49 students in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at SMU

5

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Texas at Dallas. The school came in at #5 for the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region. UT Dallas is a large school located in Richardson, Texas that handed out 52 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.8% 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 UT Dallas Public Policy Report

6
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, Texas

With a ranking of #6, Rice University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region list. Rice University is a medium-sized school located in Houston, Texas that handed out 34 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 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 0.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Rice University

7

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region ranking. University of Oklahoma is located in Norman, Oklahoma and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 27 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Public Policy at University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

8
UH crest
University of Houston
Houston, Texas

With a ranking of #8, University of Houston did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region list. UH is a large school located in Houston, Texas that handed out 21 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Full UH Public Policy Report

9

With a ranking of #9, Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region list. Texas A&M College Station is a public institution located in College Station, Texas. The school has a large population, and it awarded 15 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Read more about Public Policy at Texas A&M University - College Station

10

Dallas Baptist University landed the #10 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region ranking. DBU is located in Dallas, Texas and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 10 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

Full Dallas Baptist University Public Policy Report

10

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region ranking. The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is a public institution located in Houston, Texas. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 10 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Public Policy Report

12

University of St. Thomas came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region ranking. UST is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Houston, Texas. It awarded 9 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at UST

13
University of Arizona crest
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

University of Arizona landed the #13 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region ranking. University of Arizona is located in Tucson, Arizona and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 8 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Full University of Arizona Public Policy Report

14

With a ranking of #14, University of New Mexico - Main Campus did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region list. University of New Mexico - Main Campus is a large school located in Albuquerque, New Mexico that handed out 7 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Public Policy at UNM

15

The University of Texas at Arlington ranked #15 on this year’s Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region list. Located in Arlington, Texas, this large public school awarded 1 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.6% 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 The University of Texas at Arlington

15

University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region ranking, coming in at #15. University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma is located in Chickasha, Oklahoma and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

Read full report on Public Policy at University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma

15

Baylor University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Public Policy Major in the Southwest Region ranking. Baylor is a large school located in Waco, Texas that handed out 1 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Baylor University

Notes and References

References

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