George Mason. You’ll be a valued superstar there, you get a job in public health for a year or two to get some work experience, then you go to the best MPH program in the country (you’ll be able to afford it, what with having spent so little on your undergrad education), and after that, back to government or NGO in public health, and the sky’s the limit.
It seems to me that for public health undergrad degree, and the goal of working in public health, it makes sense to go with a low cost option, especially since you will likely want a masters degree in public health, too.
Do you know what people earn first year with a BA in public health? About 40-50K/yr. You will have to live like a student on that, in a bedroom in a shared apt in a not great area, far out from DC, and you will STILL be on a very, very tight budget. And that’s without student loans (and yes, maybe your family will help you, but that doesn’t mean that someone’s hard earned money didn’t go towards paying a lot for a degree that earns you only a little). It’s just not smart to pay a lot for a degree that pays not much. Plus, later on in your career, the degree that’s going to matter for you is going to be the MPH, not your undergrad.