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2024 Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

7 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
305 Bachelor's Degrees
$42,041 Avg Early-Career Salary
a bachelor's degree in public policy is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #121 out of 363 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 7 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for public policy students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 305 bachelor's degrees in public policy to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Public Policy School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region The public policy bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality public policy program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public policy students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Public Policy Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Public Policy in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in public policy.

Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Public Policy

1
105 Annual Graduates
$51,165 Median Starting Salary
$17,492 Median Student Debt

University of Chicago is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in public policy. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the public policy degree program at University of Chicago make $9,124 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Chicago

2
45 Annual Graduates
$40,701 Median Starting Salary
$18,750 Median Student Debt

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in public policy. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the public policy program earn about $40,701 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from Northwestern University

3
82 Annual Graduates
$44,429 Median Starting Salary
$21,000 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in public policy has to take a look at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. U-M is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.

Those public policy students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive $2,388 more than the standard public policy graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

4
22 Annual Graduates
$14,500 Median Student Debt

Ohio State University - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in public policy. Ohio State is a very large public university located in the city of Columbus.More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from Ohio State University - Main Campus

5
26 Annual Graduates
$17,000 Median Student Debt

UIC is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Illinois at Chicago

6
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
13 Annual Graduates
$34,123 Median Starting Salary
$26,337 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduation, public policy bachelor's recipients usually earn around $34,123 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from Michigan State University

7
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL

Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the public policy program earn an average of $39,789 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from DePaul University

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

Explore the best public policy schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 97
Ohio 252 22
Illinois 241 186

View All Rankings >

One of 4 majors within the Public Administration & Social Service area of study, Public Policy has other similar majors worth exploring.

Public Policy Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis 305

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Administration 1,039
Human Services 356
Community Organization & Advocacy 293
Other Public Administration 30

Notes and References

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