2023 Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Public Policy Graduate Certificate School for You
In 2020-2021, 6,430 people earned a degree or certificate in public policy, making the major the #113 most popular in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 35 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for public policy 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.
Top 10 Best Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Park University the best value school in the United States for public policy students working on their graduate certificate. Park University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Parkville.
Park University graduate students pay an average of $6,435 in tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on Public Policy at Park University
Request Information
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of North Dakota. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools list. UND is a fairly large public school located in the city of Grand Forks.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UND are $18,968 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UND also did well on our Best Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of North Dakota
Request Information
Out of the 35 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Liberty University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 per year.
Request Information
Out of the 35 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Salem State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Salem, Salem State is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Salem State are $10,477 per year.
Full Public Policy at Salem State University Report
Request Information
Out of the 35 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, California University of Pennsylvania landed the # 5 spot on the list. Cal U is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of California.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal U are $18,508 per year.
Full Public Policy at California University of Pennsylvania Report
Request Information
With a ranking of #6, Missouri State University - Springfield did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public policy students working on their graduate certificate. Missouri State is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Springfield.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Missouri State are $12,618 a year.
Read full report on Public Policy at Missouri State University - Springfield
Request Information
Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public policy students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the town of Athens.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 per year.
Read full report on Public Policy at Ohio University - Athens Campus
Request Information
With a ranking of #8, Norwich University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public policy students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the distant town of Northfield, Norwich is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Norwich graduate students pay an average of $21,914 in tuition and fees each year.
Norwich excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Request Information
Northern Arizona University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Flagstaff, NAU is a public school with a fairly large student population.
NAU graduate students pay an average of $20,125 in tuition and fees each year.
Full Public Policy at Northern Arizona University Report
Request InformationPublic Policy by Region
View the Best Value Public Policy Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Public Policy Rankings
Public Policy Related Majors for Public Policy
Public Policy is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Public Policy
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Social Work | 58,326 |
| Public Administration | 16,905 |
| Human Services | 13,238 |
| 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.