2023 Best Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor's Degree School for You
Public Administration & Social Service is the #14 most popular major in the country with 98,583 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 117 schools in the United States to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for public administration and social service majors pursuing a doctor's degree.
Top 15% Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Harvard University the best school in the United States for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Princeton University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the United States. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Princeton.
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Out of the 117 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the # 4 spot on the list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.
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Out of the 117 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Cornell University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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University of Pennsylvania came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #7, Duke University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Loma Linda University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Loma Linda, Loma Linda University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #9, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.
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University of St Thomas Minnesota came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UST MN is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Paul.
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New York University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #12, George Washington University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.
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West Chester University of Pennsylvania landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. WCUPA is a large public school located in the large suburb of West Chester.
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Carnegie Mellon University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.
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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities ranked #15 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.
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University of Chicago landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.
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Clemson University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public college with a very large student population.
Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Clemson University
Request InformationAdditional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Public & Social Service students that almost earned our Best Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Kansas State University | Manhattan, KS |
| 19 | Capella University | Minneapolis, MN |
| 20 | California Baptist University | Riverside, CA |
| 21 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI |
| 22 | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA |
| 23 | George Mason University | Fairfax, VA |
Public Administration & Social Service by Region
View the Best Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Public Administration & Social Service Rankings
Public Administration & Social Service Related Rankings by Major
Public Administration & Social Service Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Social Work | 58,326 |
| Public Administration | 16,905 |
| Human Services | 13,238 |
| Public Policy | 6,430 |
| Community Organization & Advocacy | 3,096 |
| Other Public Administration | 588 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Public Administration & Social Service
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting | 142,610 |
| Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | 73,813 |
| Legal Professions | 61,055 |
| Military Technologies & Applied Sciences | 4,477 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 University of the Fraser Valley.
More about our data sources and methodologies.