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Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California

2023 Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

3 Colleges
$12,211 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$64,120 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, 1,883 degrees and certificates were awarded to public administration students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #58 most popular major in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 3 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for public admin students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Public Administration

Our analysis found California State University - Northridge to be the best value school for public administration students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUN are $8,477 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration at California State University - Northridge

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for public administration students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSULB are $8,280 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration at California State University - Long Beach

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Golden Gate University - San Francisco. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Francisco, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Golden Gate University - San Francisco graduate students pay an average of $19,875 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Public Administration at Golden Gate University - San Francisco

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Best Value Public Administration Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 297
Oregon 117
Nevada 78
Hawaii 186
Alaska 34

Public Administration is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 58,326
Human Services 13,238
Public Policy 6,430
Community Organization & Advocacy 3,096
Other Public Administration 588

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 3 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to The Official CTBTO Photostream.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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