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

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

16 Colleges
$33,865 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$69,877 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor'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 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 in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 16 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value doctor's 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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

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

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

#1

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Aurora University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for public administration and social service students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Aurora graduate students pay an average of $14,100 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Aurora also did well on our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Springfield. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, UIS is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIS are $16,757 per year.

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Out of the 16 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the # 3 spot on the list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.

UW - Madison graduate students pay an average of $25,501 in tuition and fees each year.

UW - Madison excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loyola University Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UIUC are $30,862 a year.

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

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 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 #6 on the list. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

UWM graduate students pay an average of $25,651 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Report

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Western Michigan University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the small city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WMU are $26,248 a year.

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Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis 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 #8 on the list. IUPUI is a very large public school located in the large city of Indianapolis.

IUPUI graduate students pay an average of $26,529 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis

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University of Illinois at Chicago ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UIC graduate students pay an average of $28,468 in tuition and fees each year.

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Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at IU Bloomington are $33,352 per year.

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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 16 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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