2025 Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Michigan

Ranked #19 in popularity, public administration is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Michigan ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 162 master's degrees in public administration to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Public Administration School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of public administration for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality public admin program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to public administration students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other public administration students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for public administration to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized public administration related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public administration students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in Michigan list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Public Administration in Michigan

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in public administration.

Top Michigan Schools for a Master's in Public Admin

1

Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI

46 Annual Graduates

$67,233 Median Starting Salary

Central Michigan University is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in public administration. Central Michigan is a large public university located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant.

Those public administration students who get their master's degree from Central Michigan University receive $8,369 more than the standard public admin grad.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Central Michigan University

2

Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI

25 Annual Graduates

$57,449 Median Starting Salary

Grand Valley State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public administration. Located in the fringe town of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the public admin program earn around $57,449 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Grand Valley State University

3

Oakland University
Rochester Hills, MI

12 Annual Graduates

$55,254 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Oakland University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in public administration. Oakland is a large public university located in the suburb of Rochester Hills.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public admin program report average early career income of $55,254.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Oakland University

4

Wayne State University
Detroit, MI

12 Annual Graduates

$62,310 Median Starting Salary

Wayne State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in public administration. Wayne State is a very large public university located in the city of Detroit.

Master's recipients from the public administration major at Wayne State University earn $3,446 more than the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Wayne State University

5

Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI

13 Annual Graduates

$60,337 Median Starting Salary

Eastern Michigan is a large public university located in the large suburb of Ypsilanti.

Soon after graduation, public admin master's recipients usually make about $60,337 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Eastern Michigan University

6

Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI

18 Annual Graduates

$58,501 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public university with a large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public admin program state that they receive average early career wages of $58,501.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Western Michigan University

7

University of Michigan - Flint
Flint, MI

20 Annual Graduates

$62,493 Median Starting Salary

UM Flint is a medium-sized public university located in the small city of Flint.

Public Administration master's degree recipients from University of Michigan - Flint receive an earnings boost of approximately $3,629 over the typical income of public administration majors.

More information about a master’s in public administration from University of Michigan - Flint

Best Public Administration Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Public Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Illinois	221	414
Ohio	207	283
Indiana	191	432
Wisconsin	173	44

View All Rankings >

Public Administration Related Rankings by Major

Public Administration is one of 4 different types of Public Administration & Social Service programs to choose from.

Public Admin Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	162

Majors Similar to Public Admin

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Policy	136
Community Organization & Advocacy	45

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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.