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Best Value Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Public Administration Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

23 Colleges
$14,804 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$52,728 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration Master's Degree 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 Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 23 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value master's degree 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.

Top 10 Best Public Administration Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found San Jose State University to be the best value school for public administration students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at San Jose State are $9,286 a year.

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Out of the 23 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Fresno landed the # 2 spot on the list. Fresno State is a very large public school located in the city of Fresno.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Fresno State are $8,087 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Northridge. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the city of Northridge.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUN are $8,477 per year.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - Sacramento is a great value for public administration students working on their master’s degree. Sac State is a very large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Sac State are $8,826 per year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Bakersfield. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Bakersfield, CSUB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUB are $9,013 per year.

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California State University - Long Beach landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public administration programs. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a very large student population.

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

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#7

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public administration programs. SFSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SFSU are $8,738 per year.

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California State University - Dominguez Hills ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the small city of Carson, CSUDH is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUDH are $8,494 a year.

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California State University - East Bay ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Hayward.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State East Bay are $8,429 per year.

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California State University - Fullerton came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Cal State Fullerton graduate students pay an average of $8,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Best Value Public Administration Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration Schools 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 23 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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