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Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

2023 Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

69 Colleges
$48,536 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, public administration and social service was ranked #14 in the country. In fact 98,583 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 69 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Public Administration & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Schools

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Our analysis found Northwestern University to be the best school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

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#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Chicago helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#3

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

The excellent master’s degree programs at Marquette University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . U-M is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . UIUC is a very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

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University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree public administration and social service programs. UW - Madison is a fairly large public school located in the city of Madison.

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University of Wisconsin - Whitewater came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the distant town of Whitewater, UW - Whitewater is a public college with a large student population.

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Case Western Reserve 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 large city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#9

Erikson Institute

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #9, Erikson Institute 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 city of Chicago, The Erikson Institute is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

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Indiana University - South Bend 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 #10 on the list. Indiana University - South Bend is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of South Bend.

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Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Public & Social Service students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI
12 Aurora University Aurora, IL
13 Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration and social service colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 3,206
Michigan 3,411
Ohio 3,030
Illinois 3,948
Wisconsin 1,299

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

Majors Similar 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.

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