MAJORS · 77 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is a public administration degree worth it?
Part of Public Administration and Human Services — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$529,467. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$529,467
across 59 bachelor’s programs · 4,746 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$466K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$316K ⟷ +$711K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
0%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
32
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$281K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$100K
Questions
- Is a public administration degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 59 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Public Administration is +$529,467 and the median is +$466,239. 0% of graduates in this field never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between +$316,073 and +$711,017.
- How long until a public administration degree pays off?
- Among Public Administration programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 32 (FREOPP 2021). 0% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for a public administration major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Public Administration graduates span +$316,073 to +$711,017 — a +$395K spread within one major. The same field can be a strong trade at one school and a losing one at another, which is why the per-school number matters more than the field average.
↓ Download the data (CSV) · All 115 subfields with full statistics. Free to cite with attribution. · Methodology
Cite this:
LE TEEN (2026). “Public Administration: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/public-administration