Study in United States
29 universities · 99 verified programmes
For public policy and public affairs the US is unmatched here: Georgetown's McCourt, Harvard Kennedy School, Columbia SIPA and George Washington anchor by far the largest concentration of verified policy master's on the site. There is no single national tuition or living figure — each school sets its own on the I-20, so budget per programme.
What it costs to live there
USD 18,048/yr
No federal figure; set per-school on the I-20. Example: Iowa State University estimated graduate living expenses (9-month academic year) · Ames
Mostly the official figure the student visa makes you prove — a floor to budget against, not a lifestyle estimate. official source
By city
Estimated monthly student living costs for the cities we cover here, from official university or government sources — costs vary a lot within a country.
| City | Living cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Ann Arbor | USD 16,246/yr | University of Michigan Ann Arbor estimated living expenses (room & board), 2025-26official source |
| Baltimore | USD 19,563/yr | Johns Hopkins estimated off-campus cost of attendance excluding tuition (housing, food, personal, books, transport), 2026-27official source |
| Berkeley | USD 26,412/yr | UC Berkeley estimated indirect (living) costs, off-campus apartment 2026-27, excluding tuitionofficial source |
| Cambridge, MA | USD 24,690/yr | MIT official 2026-27 student budget living-cost lines (housing + food + personal)official source |
| New York | USD 26,438/yr | NYU estimated annual food and housing, 2026-27 cost of attendanceofficial source |
| Washington, DC | USD 21,202/yr | Georgetown University estimated annual housing and food, 2025-26 cost of attendanceofficial source |
Universities we have verified here (29)
Every university in this country with at least one master's programme we checked against its official page. Schools past our data gate link to a full page.
| University | City | QS | Verified programmes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown University | Washington, DC | #285 | 9 |
| Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | #5 | 8 |
| Columbia University | New York | #38 | 8 |
| George Washington University | Washington, DC | #358 | 7 |
| University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley | #17 | 6 |
| New York University | New York | #55 | 6 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago | #13 | 5 |
| Yale University | New Haven | #21 | 5 |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore | #24 | 5 |
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | #45 | 5 |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse, NY | #741 | 5 |
| Cornell University | Ithaca | #16 | 4 |
| Duke University | Durham, NC | #62 | 4 |
| University of California, Los Angeles | Los Angeles | #46 | 3 |
| University of California, San Diego | San Diego | #66 | 3 |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | #15 | 2 |
| Princeton University | Princeton | #25 | 2 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | #1 | 1 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston | #42 | 1 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | #52 | 1 |
| Texas A&M University | College Station, TX | #144 | 1 |
| Arizona State University | Phoenix, AZ | #173 | 1 |
| University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN | #294 | 1 |
| Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA | #521 | 1 |
| University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY | #781 | 1 |
| George Mason University | Arlington, VA | #951 | 1 |
| Baruch College, CUNY | New York | — | 1 |
| University of Nebraska Medical Center | Omaha, NE | — | 1 |
| Pepperdine University | Los Angeles, CA | — | 1 |
What this destination is strong in
Fields ranked by how many verified programmes here map to them — the honest shape of the country, not a brochure claim.
Scholarships that fund study here
Schemes whose verified destinations include this country. Check each scheme's rules for your programme and nationality.
Screen every scholarship against your profileCounts reflect only what we have verified against official pages and dated in our database — they are a floor, not the country's full offer. Nothing here is a paid placement.