2025 Best Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest 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 reviewed 6 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of public policy. Combined, these schools handed out 293 master's degrees in public policy to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of public policy for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality public policy 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 policy students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other public policy 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 much debt public policy students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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 master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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 Policy Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list to help you make the college decision.

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

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

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

1

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

125 Annual Graduates

$71,723 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat The University of Texas at Austin if you want to pursue a master's degree in public policy. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's recipients from the public policy major at The University of Texas at Austin earn $14,142 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in public policy from The University of Texas at Austin

2

Arizona State University - Tempe
Tempe, AZ

20 Annual Graduates

$52,436 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in public policy has to check out Arizona State University - Tempe. ASU - Tempe is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Tempe.

Soon after graduation, public policy master's recipients usually earn around $52,436 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in public policy from Arizona State University - Tempe

3

The University of Texas at Dallas
Richardson, TX

17 Annual Graduates

The University of Texas at Dallas is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public policy. Located in the medium-sized city of Richardson, UT Dallas is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in public policy from The University of Texas at Dallas

4

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
Norman, OK

33 Annual Graduates

$53,731 Median Starting Salary

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public policy. Located in the suburb of Norman, University of Oklahoma is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the public policy program earn about $53,731 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in public policy from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

5

University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

14 Annual Graduates

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

6

Arizona State University - Skysong
Scottsdale, AZ

33 Annual Graduates

$52,436 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public university with a fairly large student population.

After graduation, public policy master's recipients generally make about $52,436 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in public policy from Arizona State University - Skysong

Best Public Policy Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	235	152
Arizona	180	43
Oklahoma	153	27
New Mexico	114	7

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Public Policy

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

Public Policy Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis	219
International Policy Analysis	57
Other Public Policy Analysis	12
Education Policy Analysis	5

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	1,233
Human Services	44
Community Organization & Advocacy	29

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.