2025 Best Public Policy Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

a doctor's degree in public policy is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #77 out of 306 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for public policy students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 81 doctor's degrees in public policy during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 policy students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of public policy students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• 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 policy to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized public policy related body.

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

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Public Policy Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Public Policy in the Southeast Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for public policy students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Southeast Region Schools for a Doctorate in Public Policy

1

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

10 Annual Graduates

George Mason University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in public policy. GMU is a very large public university located in the suburb of Fairfax.More information about a doctorate in public policy from George Mason University

2

Southern University and A & M College
Baton Rouge, LA

30 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Southern University and A & M College if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in public policy. Southern University and A & M College is a medium-sized public university located in the midsize city of Baton Rouge.More information about a doctorate in public policy from Southern University and A & M College

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

Explore the best public policy schools for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Virginia	127	13
Georgia	126	9
North Carolina	115	11
Louisiana	103	8
Tennessee	102	2
Alabama	98	0
South Carolina	91	2
Arkansas	58	8

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Rankings in Majors Related to Public Policy

One of 4 majors within the Public Administration & Social Service area of study, Public Policy has other similar majors worth exploring.

Public Policy Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis	78
Other Public Policy Analysis	3

Majors Similar to Public Policy

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	62
Other Public Administration	7
Human Services	6

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.