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Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

8 Colleges
$10,599 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.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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.

The Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 8 schools in the Southwest Region 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 Southwest Region Schools for Affordable Quality for an Associate in Public & Social Service

#2

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Tyler Junior College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Tyler Junior College is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Tyler.

Tyler Junior College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,440 in tuition and fees each year.

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#3

San Juan College

Farmington, NM

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Juan College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. SJC is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Farmington.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SJC are $4,546 per year.

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Out of the 8 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Austin Community College District landed the # 4 spot on the list. Austin Community College District is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Austin Community College District are $10,590 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Austin Community College District is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Phoenix - Arizona. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. UOPX - Arizona is a very large private for-profit school located in the large city of Tempe.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UOPX - Arizona are $9,552 per year.

UOPX - Arizona did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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#6

Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX

Wayland Baptist University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the town of Plainview, Wayland Baptist University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Wayland Baptist University are $22,004 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Wayland Baptist University also did well on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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#7

Western New Mexico University

Silver City, NM

Western New Mexico University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the town of Silver City, Western New Mexico University is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Western New Mexico University are $13,540 per year.

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#8

San Antonio College

San Antonio, TX

San Antonio College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the city of San Antonio, San Antonio College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at San Antonio College are $14,122 a year.

San Antonio College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration and social service schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 4,076
Texas 5,592
New Mexico 495
Oklahoma 520

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 8 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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