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Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools

2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

77 Colleges
$7,844 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$25,305 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate 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 Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 77 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for public administration and social service students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 15% Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree Schools

#1

Camden County College

Blackwood, NJ

Our analysis found Camden County College to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a associate degree in the United States. Camden County College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Blackwood.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Camden County College are $3,744 per year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend York County Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools list. York County Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Wells.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at York County Community College are $6,746 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, York County Community College also did well on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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#4

Century College

White Bear Lake, MN

Out of the 77 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Century College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of White Bear Lake, Century College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Century College are $5,907 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Century College also did well on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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#5

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Tyler Junior College is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their associate degree. Tyler Junior College is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Tyler.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 a year.

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Borough of Manhattan Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of New York, BMCC is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at BMCC are $8,050 a year.

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Mitchell Technical College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools ranking. Mitchell Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Mitchell.

Mitchell Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $7,524 in tuition and fees each year.

Mitchell Tech also claimed a spot on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Mitchell Technical College Report

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Minneapolis Community and Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a associate degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Community and Technical College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Minneapolis Community and Technical College are $5,906 per year.

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#9

San Juan College

Farmington, NM

San Juan College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a associate degree. It came in at #9 on the list. SJC is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Farmington.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SJC are $4,546 a year.

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Stella and Charles Guttman Community College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the city of New York, Guttman is a public school with a fairly small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Guttman are $8,074 per year.

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Mount Wachusett Community College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the rural area of Gardner, MWCC is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MWCC are $10,588 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, MWCC also is in the top 15% of our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools ranking.

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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 Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
12 San Diego City College San Diego, CA
13 Delaware Technical Community College - Terry Dover, DE
14 Lake Area Technical Institute Watertown, SD
15 Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA

Public Administration & Social Service by Region

View the Best Value Public & Social Service Associate 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.

  • 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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