2025 Best Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

a master's degree in public policy is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #55 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 7 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 929 master's degrees in public policy to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

The public policy master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

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

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on public policy students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of public policy students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for public policy 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 policy related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

The public policy 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 Policy Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Public Policy in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Master's in Public Policy

1

Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

100 Annual Graduates

$85,111 Median Starting Salary

Princeton University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public policy. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Those public policy students who get their master's degree from Princeton University earn $15,729 more than the typical public policy student.

More information about a master’s in public policy from Princeton University

2

University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD

99 Annual Graduates

$65,892 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in public policy needs to check out University of Maryland - College Park. Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public policy program state that they receive average early career earnings of $65,892.

More information about a master’s in public policy from University of Maryland - College Park

3

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus
Pittsburgh, PA

32 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in public policy needs to check out University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus. Pitt is a fairly large public university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a master’s in public policy from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

4

Rutgers University - New Brunswick
New Brunswick, NJ

40 Annual Graduates

$61,558 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat Rutgers University - New Brunswick if you wish to pursue a master's degree in public policy. Located in the city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public policy program report average early career earnings of $61,558.

More information about a master’s in public policy from Rutgers University - New Brunswick

5

Temple University
Philadelphia, PA

71 Annual Graduates

$54,910 Median Starting Salary

Temple is a very large public university located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Soon after graduation, public policy master's recipients generally earn an average of $54,910 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in public policy from Temple University

6

University of Maryland - Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD

16 Annual Graduates

UMBC is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Baltimore.More information about a master’s in public policy from University of Maryland - Baltimore County

7

Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY

14 Annual Graduates

$54,079 Median Starting Salary

SUNY Stony Brook is a very large public university located in the suburb of Stony Brook.

Students who graduate with their master's from the public policy program report average early career income of $54,079.

More information about a master’s in public policy from Stony Brook University

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	261	77
Pennsylvania	248	190
Maryland	193	107
New Jersey	188	132
District of Columbia	154	310
Delaware	109	2

View All Rankings >

Public Policy Related Rankings by Major

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

Public Policy Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis	801
Health Policy Analysis	50
Education Policy Analysis	46
Other Public Policy Analysis	31
International Policy Analysis	1

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	2,775
Human Services	88
Community Organization & Advocacy	41
Other Public Administration	34

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.