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

If you plan on getting your master's degree in public policy, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #55 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 7 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of public policy. Combined, these schools handed out 492 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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 take this into account we consider a college'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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 colleges for public policy students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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

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

Top Southeast Region Schools for a Master's in Public Policy

1

Duke University
Durham, NC

143 Annual Graduates

$85,125 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in public policy needs to look into Duke University. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.

Public Policy master's degree recipients from Duke University earn a boost of about $14,626 above the average income of public policy graduates.

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

2

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

74 Annual Graduates

$74,616 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in public policy has to take a look at George Mason University. Located in the suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a very large student population.

Public Policy master's degree recipients from George Mason University receive an earnings boost of about $4,117 over the typical income of public policy majors.

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

3

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

35 Annual Graduates

$63,324 Median Starting Salary

Vanderbilt University is a great choice for students pursuing a master's degree in public policy. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the public policy program earn about $63,324 for their early career.

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

4

William & Mary
Williamsburg, VA

16 Annual Graduates

William & Mary is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in public policy. William & Mary is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Williamsburg.More information about a master’s in public policy from William & Mary

5

University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY

10 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in public policy from University of Kentucky

6

Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA

60 Annual Graduates

$58,353 Median Starting Salary

Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Lynchburg.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the public policy program earn about $58,353 for their early career.

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

7

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN

13 Annual Graduates

UT Knoxville is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Knoxville.More information about a master’s in public policy from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	13
Georgia	190	18
Virginia	182	247
North Carolina	178	76
Tennessee	166	41
Alabama	151	7
Kentucky	147	9
Louisiana	147	0
West Virginia	112	23

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	457
Education Policy Analysis	35

Most Popular Majors Related to Public Policy

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	2,722
Community Organization & Advocacy	129
Human Services	103
Other Public Administration	93

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.