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Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$25,801 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$39,714 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Policy School for You

Public Policy is the #61 most popular major in the country with 3,737 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in the Southwest Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for public policy students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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 Policy Schools in the Southwest Region

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

Top 10 Best Public Policy Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Arizona State University - Skysong the best value school in the Southwest Region for public policy students. Located in the city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public school with a fairly large student population.

ASU - Skysong undergraduate students pay an average of $13,092 in tuition and fees each year.

ASU - Skysong excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Full Public Policy at Arizona State University - Skysong Report

The excellent programs at The University of Texas at Austin helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best public policy schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UT Austin are $40,996 per year.

UT Austin also took the #2 spot in our Best Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region rankings.

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#3

University of Houston

Houston, TX

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Houston. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region list. UH is a fairly large public school located in the city of Houston.

UH undergraduate students pay an average of $21,891 in tuition and fees each year.

UH also claimed a spot on our Best Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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The excellent programs at Texas A&M University - College Station helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best public policy schools in the Southwest Region . Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of College Station.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Texas A&M College Station are $38,855 a year.

Texas A&M College Station not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read full report on Public Policy at Texas A&M University - College Station

$17,761 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 11 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Arizona University landed the # 5 spot on the list. NAU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Flagstaff.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NAU are $17,761 a year.

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University of Oklahoma Norman Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for public policy students. It came in at #6 on the list. University of Oklahoma is a very large public school located in the suburb of Norman.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at University of Oklahoma are $25,116 a year.

Full Public Policy at University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Report

The University of Texas at Arlington landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value public policy programs. Located in the large city of Arlington, UT Arlington is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UT Arlington are $29,299 per year.

Full Public Policy at The University of Texas at Arlington Report

The University of Texas at Dallas ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region list. UT Dallas is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Richardson.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UT Dallas are $39,776 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UT Dallas also is in the top 15% of our Best Public Policy Schools in the Southwest Region ranking.

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$25,243 Average Tuition & Fees

University of New Mexico - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for public policy students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large city of Albuquerque, UNM is a public college with a very large student population.

UNM undergraduate students pay an average of $25,243 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Policy at University of New Mexico - Main Campus Report

#10

Baylor University

Waco, TX

Baylor University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for public policy students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Baylor are $50,232 a year.

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

Read full report on Public Policy at Baylor University

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 187
Arizona 55
Oklahoma 27
New Mexico 7

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

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 33,631
Public Administration 13,571
Human Services 1,277
Community Organization & Advocacy 741
Other Public Administration 295

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 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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