Master's · Boston, Massachusetts

Is Public Administration at Suffolk University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 3.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $87,749; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $98,835; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $41,000; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $43k (likely $43k – $43k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $27k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in MA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3.5 years (likely 2.5–5.7); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $49k (likely −$75k – $171k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $402k (likely $133k – $703k); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.