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Best Value Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Value Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

29 Colleges
$20,609 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,251 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration School for You

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

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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 Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 29 schools in the Southwest Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for public admin students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for public admin majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Public Administration Schools

#1

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX
$4,440 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Tyler Junior College the best value school in the Southwest Region for public administration students. Located in the medium-sized city of Tyler, Tyler Junior College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 per year.

Full Public Administration at Tyler Junior College Report

Out of the 29 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Arizona State University - Skysong landed the # 2 spot on the list. ASU - Skysong is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Scottsdale.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at ASU - Skysong are $13,092 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, ASU - Skysong is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read full report on Public Administration at Arizona State University - Skysong

$11,208 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend West Texas A&M University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region list. West Texas A&M University is a medium-sized public school located in the fringe town of Canyon.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at West Texas A&M University are $11,208 a year. On average, public admin graduates from West Texas A&M University take out $26,620 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Public Administration at West Texas A&M University

#4

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Out of the 29 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Grand Canyon University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Grand Canyon University are $17,189 a year.

Read More…

#5

Lamar University

Beaumont, TX
$18,482 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Lamar University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region list. Lamar University is a large public school located in the city of Beaumont.

Lamar University undergraduate students pay an average of $18,482 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

$19,333 Average Tuition & Fees

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value public administration programs. UT Rio Grande Valley is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Edinburg.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UT Rio Grande Valley are $19,333 per year.

Read More…

#7

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

With a ranking of #7, Texas Tech University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration students. Texas Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Lubbock.

Texas Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $24,121 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Texas Tech also did well on our Best Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Public Administration at Texas Tech University Report

#8

Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX

Wayland Baptist University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value public administration programs. Wayland Baptist University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Plainview.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Wayland Baptist University are $22,004 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Wayland Baptist University is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Full Public Administration at Wayland Baptist University Report

University of Phoenix - Arizona did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for public administration students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Tempe, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UOPX - Arizona are $9,552 a year. The average amount in student loans that public admin majors at UOPX - Arizona take out is $46,644.

In addition to its great value ranking, UOPX - Arizona is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Public Administration Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Full Public Administration at University of Phoenix - Arizona Report

#10

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX
$17,582 Average Tuition & Fees

Tarleton State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for public administration students. It came in at #10 on the list. Tarleton is a large public school located in the remote town of Stephenville.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Tarleton are $17,582 a year.

Read More…

Best Public Administration Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 998
Arizona 621
Oklahoma 80
New Mexico 55

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

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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