2023 Best Value Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in Massachusetts
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Public Policy Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 544 degrees and certificates were awarded to public policy students who went to a Massachusetts college or university. This makes it the #65 most popular major in the state.
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.
The Best Value Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in Massachusetts ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 8 schools in Massachusetts to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for public policy students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
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.
Best Massachusetts Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in Public Policy
Our analysis found Harvard University to be the best value school for public policy students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Massachusetts. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.
Harvard graduate students pay an average of $52,170 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Harvard did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts list.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Massachusetts - Boston. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts list. UMass Boston is a fairly large public school located in the city of Boston.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UMass Boston are $18,938 per year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Simmons University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts list. Located in the large city of Boston, Simmons is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Simmons are $21,546 per year.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Massachusetts Amherst helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public policy schools in Massachusetts. UMass Amherst is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Amherst.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UMass Amherst are $16,251 a year.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Boston University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public policy schools in Massachusetts. Boston U is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.
Boston U graduate students pay an average of $59,418 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Boston U is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts list.
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Suffolk University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts list. Suffolk is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Suffolk are $39,813 a year.
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Brandeis University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public policy students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Waltham.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Brandeis are $53,618 per year.
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Tufts University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts ranking. Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Tufts are $55,216 a year.
Tufts not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in Massachusetts list.
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Request InformationBest Value Public Policy Colleges in the New England Region
Explore all the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the New England Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Connecticut | 153 |
| New Hampshire | 23 |
| Maine | 27 |
| Rhode Island | 154 |
| Vermont | 21 |
More Public Policy Rankings in Massachusetts
Public Policy Related Majors for Public Policy
Public Policy is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Related Majors
| 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 8 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.