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Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

3 Colleges
$15,945 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$25,305 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree School for You

With 8,979 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, public administration and social service is the #16 most popular major in California.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 3 schools in California to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for public administration and social service students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for an Associate in Public & Social Service

#1

San Diego City College

San Diego, CA

Our analysis found San Diego City College to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a associate degree in California. Located in the large city of San Diego, San Diego City College is a public college with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Diego City College are $1,144 per year.

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#2

Fresno City College

Fresno, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Fresno City College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in California list. Fresno City College is a very large public school located in the city of Fresno.

Fresno City College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,304 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Fresno City College Report

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#3

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

Out of the 3 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Mount Saint Mary’s University landed the # 3 spot on the list. MSMU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MSMU are $45,388 per year.

MSMU excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in California list.

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Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 1,252
Oregon 832
Hawaii 396
Nevada 610
Alaska 121

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 3 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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