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2023 Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools

446 Colleges
$48,536 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Master'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 Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 446 schools in the United States to see which master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Public & Social Service

#1

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

Our 2023 rankings named Princeton University the best school in the United States for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Princeton.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Princeton University

#2

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Harvard University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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The excellent master’s degree 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 midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of California - Berkeley

#4

Duke University

Durham, NC

Out of the 446 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Duke University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Duke University Report

#5

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Johns Hopkins University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools list. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.

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#6

Elizabethtown College

Elizabethtown, PA

Elizabethtown College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Elizabethtown, Etown is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Elizabethtown College

#7

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools list. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Georgetown University

#8

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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#9

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD

University of South Dakota did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. USD is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Vermillion.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of South Dakota Report

#10

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #10, University of Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Chicago Report

#11

Winona State University

Winona, MN

Winona State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the town of Winona, Winona State is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Winona State University Report

#12

St Catherine University

Saint Paul, MN

With a ranking of #12, St Catherine University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, St. Kate's is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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#13

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Brown is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Providence.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Brown University

#14

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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University of Maryland - Baltimore came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UMB is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of Baltimore.

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#16

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA

San Jose State University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at San Jose State University

#17

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

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University of California - Los Angeles came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of California - Los Angeles

#19

George Washington University

Washington, DC

George Washington University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools list. GWU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

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University of Southern California came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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

#21

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania ranked #21 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#22

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

University of San Francisco came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. USFCA is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

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

#23

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #23 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

#24

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

Marquette University came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Marquette is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Marquette University

#25

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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Rest of the Top Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools

#28

Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS
#31

Trinity College

Hartford, CT
#33

American University

Washington, DC
#36

New York University

New York, NY
#37

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA
#40

Metropolitan State University

Saint Paul, MN
#41

William & Mary

Williamsburg, VA
#43

Boston University

Boston, MA
#44

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, ND
#46

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA
#48

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Remaining Award Winners

This list represents the rest of the schools awarded a Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 446 different United States public administration and social service schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
52 Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY
53 Salisbury University Salisbury, MD
54 California State University - Stanislaus Turlock, CA
55 Smith College Northampton, MA
56 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
57 Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN
58 Augusta University Augusta, GA
59 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
60 Fort Hays State University Hays, KS
61 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN
62 California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA
63 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Whitewater, WI
64 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
65 Anna Maria College Paxton, MA
66 Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, PA

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
67 Drake University Des Moines, IA
68 George Mason University Fairfax, VA
69 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
70 California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA
71 University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, MO
72 Erikson Institute Chicago, IL
73 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
74 Yeshiva University New York, NY
75 Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX
76 University of California - San Francisco San Francisco, CA
77 Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA
78 Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN
79 San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA
80 Alvernia University Reading, PA
81 Indiana University - South Bend South Bend, IN
82 The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN
83 California State University - East Bay Hayward, CA
84 Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI
85 Hamline University Saint Paul, MN
86 Widener University Chester, PA
87 Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, NJ
88 California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA
89 University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD

Public Administration & Social Service by Region

View the Best Public & Social Service Master'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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