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Best Value Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Best Value Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

10 Colleges
$33,500 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$58,877 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration School for You

In 2020-2021, 483 degrees and certificates were awarded to public administration students who went to a Pennsylvania college or university. This makes it the #83 most popular major in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in Pennsylvania to see which 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.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Public Administration Colleges.

Top 10 Best Public Administration Schools

$10,423 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found West Chester University of Pennsylvania to be the best value school for public administration students who want to pursue a degree in Pennsylvania. WCUPA is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of West Chester.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WCUPA are $10,423 per year.

Full Public Administration at West Chester University of Pennsylvania Report

$13,394 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania is a great value for public administration students. Ship is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Shippensburg.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Ship are $13,394 per year.

Read full report on Public Administration at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

$11,062 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 10 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the fringe town of Kutztown, Kutztown University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Kutztown University undergraduate students pay an average of $11,062 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Public Administration at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

#4

Marywood University

Scranton, PA
$37,284 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 10 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Marywood University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Scranton, Marywood is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Marywood undergraduate students pay an average of $37,284 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#5

Villanova University

Villanova, PA
$59,020 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 10 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Villanova University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Villanova are $59,020 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Villanova is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania list.

Read More…

$20,362 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for public administration students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Pitt is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Pitt are $20,362 a year. While working on their degree, public admin majors at Pitt accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.

Pitt also claimed a spot on our Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

#7

Widener University

Chester, PA
$49,706 Average Tuition & Fees

Widener University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for public administration students. It came in at #7 on the list. Widener is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Chester.

Widener undergraduate students pay an average of $49,706 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Public Administration at Widener University

#8

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
$61,710 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration students. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UPenn are $61,710 per year.

UPenn did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania list.

Read More…

#9

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA
$58,524 Average Tuition & Fees

Carnegie Mellon University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value public administration programs. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon are $58,524 a year.

Carnegie Mellon not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania list.

Read full report on Public Administration at Carnegie Mellon University

$13,515 Average Tuition & Fees

Strayer University - Pennsylvania ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the suburb of Trevose, Strayer University - Pennsylvania is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Strayer University - Pennsylvania are $13,515 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration at Strayer University - Pennsylvania

Best Value Public Administration Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
New York 1,899
Maryland 254
New Jersey 403
District of Columbia 292
Delaware 29

Public Administration is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.

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 10 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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