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Best Value Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

2023 Best Value Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

81 Colleges
$17,181 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$52,728 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration Master's Degree School for You

Public Administration is the #59 most popular major in the country with 16,905 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 81 schools in the Southeast Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for public admin students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

Top 15% Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools

#1

Columbia Southern University

Orange Beach, AL

Our analysis found Columbia Southern University to be the best value school for public administration students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Southeast Region . Located in the fringe town of Orange Beach, Columbia Southern University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Columbia Southern University are $4,035 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Public University System. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the fringe town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at American Military University are $7,050 per year.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Arkansas State University - Main Campus is a great value for public administration students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Jonesboro, A-State is a public school with a large student population.

A-State graduate students pay an average of $11,408 in tuition and fees each year.

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#4

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Clemson University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Clemson is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Clemson.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Clemson are $23,246 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Clemson also is in the top 10% of our Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

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#5

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Liberty University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the small city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 per year.

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#6

Augusta University

Augusta, GA

Augusta University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Augusta University is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Augusta.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Augusta University are $20,712 a year.

Augusta University excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list.

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University of North Georgia came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. UNG is a large public school located in the town of Dahlonega.

UNG graduate students pay an average of $18,354 in tuition and fees each year.

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University of South Alabama did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Mobile, USA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

USA graduate students pay an average of $16,652 in tuition and fees each year.

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The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. UT Chattanooga is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Chattanooga.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UT Chattanooga are $18,538 a year.

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#10

Kentucky State University

Frankfort, KY

Kentucky State University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the town of Frankfort, KY State is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at KY State are $12,660 per year.

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#11

Barry University

Miami, FL

Barry University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public administration programs. Barry University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Miami.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Barry University are $17,910 per year.

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#12

Morehead State University

Morehead, KY

Morehead State University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the town of Morehead, Morehead State University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Morehead State University graduate students pay an average of $10,557 in tuition and fees each year.

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Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
13 Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, AL
14 University of Memphis Memphis, TN
15 Belhaven University Jackson, MS
16 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
16 Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY

Best Public Administration Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration colleges for a specific state in the Southeast region.

State Degrees Awarded
Georgia 401
Virginia 602
North Carolina 469
Florida 1,032
Tennessee 107
Kentucky 123
South Carolina 88
Louisiana 121
Arkansas 186
Alabama 396
Mississippi 84
West Virginia 132

One of 5 majors within the area of study, public administration has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Public Admin

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 58,326
Human Services 13,238
Public Policy 6,430
Community Organization & Advocacy 3,096
Other Public Administration 588

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to The Official CTBTO Photostream.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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