Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Public Administration

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

45

Schools Ranked

$42,555

Avg. Earnings

1.7 yrs

Best Payback

2,651

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX · Public	$14,196	$69,338	1.7 yrs
2	National University San Diego, CA · Private	$23,427	$74,576	2.4 yrs
3	California Baptist University Riverside, CA · Private	$25,553	$69,338	3 yrs
4	California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA · Public	$6,333	$43,240	3.1 yrs
5	Upper Iowa University Fayette, IA · Private	$22,508	$61,516	3.4 yrs
6	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC · Public	$14,701	$52,107	3.4 yrs
7	Barry University Miami, FL · Private	$22,551	$58,673	3.8 yrs
8	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	$9,017	$42,682	4.7 yrs
9	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$41,193	4.7 yrs
10	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	$12,369	$45,034	4.9 yrs
11	George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public	$19,066	$48,823	5.5 yrs
12	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY · Public	$7,811	$40,481	5.7 yrs
13	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$41,205	7.7 yrs
14	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA · Public	$15,287	$40,896	10.4 yrs
15	Indiana University-Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN · Public	$13,306	$39,074	13.1 yrs
16	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS · Public	$18,586	$40,647	13.2 yrs
17	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public	$23,513	$41,992	13.5 yrs
18	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private	$23,533	$41,937	13.6 yrs
19	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	$19,623	$40,641	13.9 yrs
20	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public	$19,216	$40,281	14.6 yrs
21	Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Shippensburg, PA · Public	$22,033	$41,025	14.6 yrs
22	Flagler College Saint Augustine, FL · Private	$24,027	$41,007	16 yrs
23	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA · Public	$9,854	$36,848	21.3 yrs
24	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX · Public	$10,316	$36,668	24.7 yrs
25	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	$13,644	$36,272	42.9 yrs
26	Purdue University Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN · Public	$13,015	$36,042	50 yrs
27	University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Green Bay, WI · Public	$13,258	$36,058	50.1 yrs
28	University of Oregon Eugene, OR · Public	$16,014	$36,221	52.5 yrs
29	University of Hawaii-West Oahu Kapolei, HI · Public	$13,554	$35,995	54.5 yrs
30	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	$13,273	$35,914	58.1 yrs
31	Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL · Public	$12,323	$35,823	59.9 yrs
32	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX · Public	$14,583	$35,772	75.6 yrs
33	Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public	$23,468	$35,600	156.5 yrs
34	Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI · Public	$14,547	$35,060	969.8 yrs
35	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY · Public	$7,187	$33,138	N/A
36	Wayne State University Detroit, MI · Public	$13,612	$30,173	N/A
37	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI · Public	$13,198	$33,993	N/A
38	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	$12,996	$30,554	N/A
39	Kean University Union, NJ · Public	$20,486	$34,381	N/A
40	San Diego State University San Diego, CA · Public	$14,698	$33,993	N/A
41	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL · Public	$9,426	$28,236	N/A
42	Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI · Public	$15,277	$33,880	N/A
43	Indiana University-Kokomo Kokomo, IN · Public	$11,393	$34,526	N/A
44	California State University-Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA · Public	$9,102	$33,993	N/A
45	Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH · Public	$18,468	$31,127	N/A

Top Earners in Public Administration

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.