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2023 Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools

126 Colleges
$55,530 Avg Salary
$25,500 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 126 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States

Check out the public administration and social service graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 15% Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Our analysis found Johns Hopkins University to be the best school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the United States. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Johns Hopkins University

#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Northwestern University is a great place for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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The excellent graduate certificate programs at University of California - Berkeley 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. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

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#4

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of South Dakota. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. USD is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Vermillion.

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#5

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of Chicago

#6

Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS

Kansas State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Manhattan, K -State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#7

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, ND

University of North Dakota ranked #7 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small city of Grand Forks, UND is a public school with a large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of North Dakota

#8

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Virginia - Main Campus Report

Texas A&M University - College Station ranked #10 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of College Station.

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Minnesota State University - Mankato did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Minnesota State University - Mankato

#12

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA

Virginia Tech came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Virginia Tech Report

#13

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

With a ranking of #13, Clemson University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Clemson University Report

#14

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Pennsylvania Report

North Carolina State University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the large city of Raleigh, NC State is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at North Carolina State University

#16

New York University

New York, NY

New York University ranked #16 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at New York University Report

Colorado State University - Fort Collins came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Fort Collins, Colorado State is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Colorado State University - Fort Collins Report

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the city of Minneapolis.

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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 Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
19 University of Kansas Lawrence, KS
20 California University of Pennsylvania California, PA
21 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
22 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
23 Montclair State University Montclair, NJ
24 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
25 Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL

Public Administration & Social Service by Region

View the Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate 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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