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Best Colleges for Public Administration

50 Public Administration programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Public Administration, Anna Maria College (Massachusetts) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $123,207. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Anna Maria College Paxton, MA	Master's Degree	$123,207	$20,759	90	96.4
2	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Master's Degree	$108,093	$25,864	29	89.9
3	Alfred University Alfred, NY	Master's Degree	$94,571	$19,140	30	88.5
4	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY	Master's Degree	$93,751	$27,150	158	88
5	Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY	Master's Degree	$99,846	$30,625	61	87.6
6	California Baptist University Riverside, CA	Master's Degree	$98,056	$27,334	40	87.3
7	Calumet College of Saint Joseph Whiting, IN	Master's Degree	$121,754	—	32	85.4
8	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	Master's Degree	$99,879	$35,500	59	85.2
9	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Master's Degree	$122,517	$39,301	39	85.2
10	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$89,732	$26,000	85	85.2
11	Barry University Miami, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$97,702	$33,381	39	84.2
12	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$104,073	$41,000	91	82.8
13	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Master's Degree	$86,271	$23,136	105	82.7
14	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	Master's Degree	$92,353	$37,074	238	82.4
15	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Master's Degree	$87,075	$26,500	90	82.4
16	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	Master's Degree	$177,149	$70,763	310	82.2
17	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	Master's Degree	$100,692	$41,000	93	82.2
18	Golden Gate University San Francisco, CA	Master's Degree	$122,598	$41,000	31	82
19	University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$85,909	$21,169	68	82
20	Indiana University-Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$97,043	—	39	81.7
21	George Washington University Washington, DC	Master's Degree	$113,891	$46,979	60	81.4
22	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	Master's Degree	$107,868	$51,317	184	81.4
23	Villanova University Villanova, PA	Master's Degree	$96,385	$38,458	52	81.3
24	National University San Diego, CA	Master's Degree	$88,988	$33,712	88	81.1
25	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Master's Degree	$115,874	$71,000	241	80.8
26	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Master's Degree	$86,879	$28,500	73	80.5
27	American University Washington, DC	Master's Degree	$107,866	$55,000	155	80.2
28	New York University New York, NY	Master's Degree	$109,946	$75,234	175	80.1
29	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	Master's Degree	$91,303	$28,278	18	79.9
30	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Master's Degree	$98,798	$44,568	87	79.8
31	Hamline University Saint Paul, MN	Master's Degree	$93,090	$33,398	24	79.8
32	Portland State University Portland, OR	Master's Degree	$99,801	$41,000	39	79.6
33	Bowie State University Bowie, MD	Master's Degree	$98,800	$39,924	26	79.4
34	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	Master's Degree	$84,412	$21,455	87	78.8
35	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Master's Degree	$100,325	$51,608	73	78.7
36	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$103,721	$75,887	111	78.4
37	Boston University Boston, MA	Master's Degree	$106,292	—	0	78
38	California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA	Master's Degree	$89,849	$40,750	67	77.6
39	University of La Verne La Verne, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$85,403	$25,666	29	77
40	Walden University Minneapolis, MN	Doctoral Degree	$100,861	$138,500	155	76.7
41	Drake University Des Moines, IA	Master's Degree	$83,764	$20,075	39	76.7
42	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Master's Degree	$91,499	$46,652	197	76.6
43	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO	Master's Degree	$85,272	$32,448	118	76.4
44	University at Albany Albany, NY	Master's Degree	$84,950	$28,125	68	76.4
45	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	Master's Degree	$97,311	$41,754	26	76.1
46	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Master's Degree	$88,961	—	28	76
47	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Post-baccalaureate Certificate	$89,626	—	—	75.7
48	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	Master's Degree	$99,141	$48,010	28	75.6
49	Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH	Master's Degree	$87,606	$35,655	29	75.6
50	Suffolk University Boston, MA	Master's Degree	$92,015	$41,000	34	75.4

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Hidden Gems for Public Administration

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Public Administration — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Alfred University Alfred, NY Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$94,571	74%	88.5
2	California Baptist University Riverside, CA Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$98,056	85%	87.3
3	Calumet College of Saint Joseph Whiting, IN Strong Public Administration outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$121,754	—	85.4
4	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,879	97%	85.2
5	Barry University Miami, FL Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$97,702	77%	84.2
6	Golden Gate University San Francisco, CA Strong Public Administration outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$122,598	—	82
7	Indiana University-Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$97,043	76%	81.7
8	National University San Diego, CA Strong Public Administration outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$88,988	—	81.1
9	Hamline University Saint Paul, MN Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$93,090	88%	79.8
10	Portland State University Portland, OR Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,801	91%	79.6
11	Bowie State University Bowie, MD Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$98,800	72%	79.4
12	California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA Strong Public Administration outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$89,849	93%	77.6

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Public Administration field (CIP 44.04) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Public Administration programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Public Administration program?+

By our outcome score, Anna Maria College (Massachusetts) ranks #1 for Public Administration, with median graduate earnings of $123,207.

How are these Public Administration programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Public Administration programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

🔍 Public Administration rankings (filterable)🎓 All major rankings 🏫 Browse colleges 🆓 Tuition-free colleges ⭐ All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.