2025 Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Public Administration is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #19 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 13 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 710 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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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 Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

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 full 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

The public admin school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Public Administration in the Plains States Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in public administration.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in Public Admin

1

University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO

101 Annual Graduates

$65,836 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of Missouri - Columbia if you want to pursue a master's degree in public administration. Mizzou is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Columbia.

Master's recipients from the public administration major at University of Missouri - Columbia get $2,384 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in public administration from University of Missouri - Columbia

2

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

28 Annual Graduates

$58,188 Median Starting Salary

University of Kansas is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public administration. KU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Lawrence.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public admin program state that they receive average early career income of $58,188.

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

3

University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND

18 Annual Graduates

$64,701 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of North Dakota if you wish to pursue a master's degree in public administration. Located in the small city of Grand Forks, UND is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduation, public admin master's recipients generally earn an average of $64,701 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in public administration from University of North Dakota

4

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

12 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in public administration has to take a look at University of Iowa. Iowa is a fairly large public university located in the city of Iowa City.More information about a master’s in public administration from University of Iowa

5

University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE

47 Annual Graduates

$58,548 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Omaha, UNOMAHA is a public university with a large student population.

Soon after graduating, public admin master's recipients generally make about $58,548 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in public administration from University of Nebraska at Omaha

6

Saint Cloud State University
Saint Cloud, MN

21 Annual Graduates

St. Cloud State University is a large public university located in the small city of Saint Cloud.More information about a master’s in public administration from Saint Cloud State University

7

Missouri State University - Springfield
Springfield, MO

56 Annual Graduates

$42,399 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduating, public admin master's recipients usually make around $42,399 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in public administration from Missouri State University - Springfield

8

Park University
Parkville, MO

47 Annual Graduates

$62,141 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Parkville, Park University is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

After graduation, public admin master's recipients typically make an average of $62,141 in their early careers.

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

9

Bellevue University
Bellevue, NE

17 Annual Graduates

$74,280 Median Starting Salary

Bellevue University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Bellevue.

Public Administration master's degree recipients from Bellevue University get an earnings boost of around $10,828 above the typical income of public administration graduates.

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

10

Upper Iowa University
Fayette, IA

11 Annual Graduates

$66,737 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote area of Fayette, UIU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Those public administration students who get their master's degree from Upper Iowa University receive $3,285 more than the average public admin grad.

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

Best Public Administration Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	193	294
Minnesota	174	322
Iowa	154	62
Kansas	149	70
Nebraska	123	90
North Dakota	115	14
South Dakota	89	20

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	710

Most Popular Majors Related to Public Admin

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Human Services	211
Public Policy	98
Community Organization & Advocacy	87

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.