Also, is WashU a good school for public policy in any way?
Isn’t UNC among the very top schools in the country for public policy ?
Also, check out whether or not cross registration with Duke is permitted.
I did not know that it was considered a top school for public policy. I think cross registration with Duke is only permitted if you are a Robertson scholar, a scholarship I didn’t apply to because I thought I had no shot at UNC.
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Anybody can take classes at Duke. And yes, UNC is an excellent school for public policy.
As for which is better, that depends on you and what you want.
UNC and frankly it’s a major where a zillion schools are great.
Why UNC ? Because I don’t believe WashU has the major but rather Poli Sci or Philosophy with a Law and Policy specialization.
Both schools are great - but UNC has the formal major.
Can’t find many rankings but college raptor says UNC is #9 and doesn’t have a listing for WU, which makes sense given they don’t have the actual major.
Good luck
Are you looking for a more traditional Public Policy major? UNC has one, WashU does not.
Here is UNC’s program, which I agree is excellent:
WashU instead sort of does more specific versions. So, they have an Environmental Policy major, a Public Health & Society major, and a Law and Policy specialization you can do within Philosophy:
As they say at the last link, that is the major they recommend for people interested in graduate work or employment in Public Policy.
I also note at both places, these are designed to be easily combinable with other majors or a complementary minor. UNC discusses that here:
At WashU, this is just sort of built into the curriculum structure in Arts & Sciences. None of those majors requires a ton of credits, so all can easily be combined with other majors or minors.
“Better” is always an interesting question, particularly with interdisciplinary programs at the undergrad level. Both places allow a lot of customization, so I think you could look at what a four-year curriculum plan, including possibly other majors or minors as your current interests might suggest, could look like. But I would also suggest you think about which overall university experience you would prefer, understanding you might well change academic plans anyway.
This sire includes UNC among the 22 schools it suggests for the study of public policy:
Not that this is the only important metric, particularly for undergrad, but EduRank does empirical rankings based on publications. In Public Policy . . .
. . . they have UNC #16 in the world (#9 in the US). WashU is #25 in the world (#16 in the US).
So really, neither is at all a bad choice. But again you would want to think about what your four-year curriculum might look like, and the overall four-year experience.