Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

117 Colleges
$20,505 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$69,877 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor'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 Value Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 117 schools in the United States to see which doctor's 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.

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.

2023 Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools

#2

Hamline University

Saint Paul, MN

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Hamline University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Hamline is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Hamline are $10,402 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Hamline University Report

#3

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Capella University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public administration and social service schools in the United States. Capella University is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the city of Minneapolis.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Capella University are $14,784 a year.

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

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California Baptist University is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Cal Baptist graduate students pay an average of $14,320 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Cal Baptist also is in the top 20% of our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Chester University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. WCUPA is a large public school located in the large suburb of West Chester.

WCUPA graduate students pay an average of $16,758 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, WCUPA is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list.

Read More…

#6

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Aurora.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Aurora are $14,100 per year.

Aurora excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list.

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

University of St Thomas Minnesota landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. UST MN is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UST MN are $23,736 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of St Thomas Minnesota Report

University of California - Berkeley landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UC Berkeley are $29,262 a year.

UC Berkeley also claimed a spot on our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

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

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Kutztown, Kutztown University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Kutztown University are $16,997 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

University of Nebraska at Omaha ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Omaha, UNOMAHA is a public college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNOMAHA are $16,374 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Nebraska at Omaha Report

#11

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Clemson are $23,246 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Clemson University Report

#12

University of La Verne

La Verne, CA

With a ranking of #12, University of La Verne did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of La Verne, ULV is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

ULV graduate students pay an average of $14,520 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of La Verne Report

#13

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cornell are $30,006 per year.

Cornell also claimed a spot on our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Cornell University Report

University of California - Los Angeles did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UCLA are $28,138 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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

#15

Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS

Kansas State University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Manhattan, K -State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at K -State are $23,949 per year.

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

The University of Texas at Austin came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 a year.

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

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at The University of Texas at Austin

Millersville University of Pennsylvania came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Millersville, Millersville is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Millersville are $16,794 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Millersville University of Pennsylvania Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great value schools for Public & Social Service students seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
18 University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
19 University of Illinois at Springfield Springfield, IL
20 Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA
21 Valdosta State University Valdosta, GA
22 University of Houston Houston, TX
23 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
23 University of Nevada - Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV

Public Administration & Social Service by Region

View the Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor'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.

  • 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.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.