Englewood, NJ (PRWEB) January 16, 2014
Graduate Students who study public affairs & policy often pursue careers in various areas of public service, both domestically and abroad. Their graduate school curriculum often includes courses in policy analysis, economics, management and leadership, empirical analysis, negotiation, ethics and politics. To help prospective public affairs & policy grad students better evaluate their options for continuing education, Graduateprograms.com compiled and analyzed more than 40,000 ratings posted on the site by graduate students attending over 1,200 different graduate programs nationwide. The ensuing rankings are based solely on the student ratings and reviews posted on Graduateprograms.com from Sept. 1, 2012 through Sept. 30, 2013 using a 10 star system (with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best).
For a complete list of the public affairs/policy school ratings, please visit http://www.graduateprograms.com/top-public-affairs-programs/. The Top Public Affairs/Policy Programs in the country for career support, social life, financial aid and overall grad program value are…
Top Public Affairs/Policy Schools for Career Support:
1 Cornell University
2 University of Washington Seattle
3 Brown University
4 Syracuse University
5 New York University
6 Carnegie Mellon University
7 Rutgers University-Newark
8 Duke University
9 University of Kansas
10 Texas A&M University
Top Public Affairs/Policy Schools for Social Life:
1 Syracuse University
2 Florida State University
3 Duke University
4 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
5 Central Michigan University
6 The George Washington University
7 University of Georgia
8 New York University
9 Harvard University
10 Brown University
Top Public Affairs/Policy Schools for Financial Aid:
1 University of Georgia
2 University of Kansas
3 The New School
4 Carnegie Mellon University
5 Cornell University
6 Syracuse University
7 University of Pittsburgh-Main Campus
8 Duke University
9 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
10 Texas A&M University
Top Public Affairs/Policy Schools for Grad Program Value:
1 University of Kansas
2 California State University, Fullerton
3 Troy University-Main Campus
4 Syracuse University
5 The University of Texas at Arlington
6 Cornell University
7 California State University, Northridge
8 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
9 University of Georgia
10 The University of Alabama at Birmingham
In addition to rating their respective programs, students often share personal insights as well. One Duke University Class of 2014 public policy student commented, “My experience at the Sanford School of Public Policy has left me feeling very prepared for what's to come. I gained critical thinking and communication skills, quantitative analysis skills, and content knowledge. On top of all of that, I have a really strong network of friends here to support my learning and needs.”
Students can continue to review their programs at http://www.graduateprograms.com and qualify to win a $1,000 scholarship, awarded once per semester. Reviews will be incorporated into upcoming program rankings.
METHODOLOGY
Graduateprograms.com reaches current and recent graduate students through scholarship entries as well as social media platforms. These program rankings cover a period from September 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013. Graduateprograms.com assigns 15 ranking categories to each graduate program at each graduate school. Rankings cover a variety of student topics, such as academic competitiveness, career support, financial aid, and quality of network.
For a given graduate program, rankings are determined by calculating the average score for each program based on the 15 ranking categories. These scores are then compared across all ranked schools for that program and are translated into a final ranking for that graduate program, i.e., business and management. A given graduate program is not ranked until a minimum threshold of graduate student surveys is completed for that graduate program.