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Best Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools

2023 Best Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools

117 Colleges
$69,877 Avg Salary

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

#1

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

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 city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#3

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Princeton University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Princeton.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Southern California helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the United States. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

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#5

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Cornell University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#6

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

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 large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#7

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke 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 #7 on the list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#8

Loma Linda University

Loma Linda, CA

With a ranking of #8, Loma Linda 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 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 large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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University of St Thomas Minnesota landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. UST MN is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Paul.

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#11

New York University

New York, NY

With a ranking of #11, New York 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 New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#12

George Washington University

Washington, DC

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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With a ranking of #13, West Chester University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. WCUPA is a large public school located in the large suburb of West Chester.

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#14

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities 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 #15 on the list. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

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#16

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

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#17

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public school with a very large student population.

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Additional 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

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

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.

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