2023 Best Value Public Administration Schools in Iowa

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

Finding the Best Public Administration School for You

With 114 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, public administration is the #85 most popular major in Iowa.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Public Administration Schools in Iowa ranking. Our analysis looked at 3 schools in Iowa 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. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Public Administration Schools in Iowa

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

Best Iowa Schools for Affordable Quality in Public Administration

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

11 Degrees

#5 in Quality in Iowa

$9,053 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named University of Northern Iowa the best value school in Iowa for public administration students. Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UNI are $9,053 a year. On average, public admin graduates from UNI take out $25,697 in student loans while working on their degree.

UNI did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa list.

Read full report on Public Administration at University of Northern Iowa

#2

Drake University

Des Moines, IA

33 Degrees

#3 in Quality in Iowa

$45,912 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Drake University is a great value for public administration students. Located in the city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Drake are $45,912 per year.

Drake also made our Best Public Administration Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #3.

Full Public Administration at Drake University Report

#3

Upper Iowa University

Fayette, IA

47 Degrees

#15 in Quality in Iowa

$33,609 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Upper Iowa University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public Administration Schools in Iowa list. Located in the remote area of Fayette, UIU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIU are $33,609 a year. The average amount in student loans that public admin majors at UIU take out is $31,415.

Read full report on Public Administration at Upper Iowa University

Best Value Public Administration Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration Schools in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

Majors Related to Public Admin

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

Most Popular Related Majors

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 3 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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