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Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

18 Colleges
$31,513 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$55,530 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 18 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate 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.

2023 Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for public administration and social service majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Top 10 Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Our analysis found Aurora University to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

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

Read More…

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Springfield. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Springfield, UIS is a public school with a small student population.

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

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of Illinois at Springfield

Out of the 18 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the # 3 spot on the list. OHIO Athens is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Athens.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at OHIO Athens are $17,712 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Ohio University - Athens Campus Report

#4

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, MI

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Central Michigan University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Central Michigan are $15,644 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Central Michigan University Report

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Loyola University Chicago helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Loyola Chicago graduate students pay an average of $19,894 in tuition and fees each year.

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Indiana University - Northwest came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. IU Northwest is a small public school located in the small city of Gary.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at IU Northwest are $18,592 per year.

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

#7

Madonna University

Livonia, MI

Madonna University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate public administration and social service programs. Madonna is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Livonia.

Madonna graduate students pay an average of $16,380 in tuition and fees each year.

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

With a ranking of #8, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UWM are $25,651 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. IUPUI is a fairly large public school located in the city of Indianapolis.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at IUPUI are $26,529 per year.

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

#10

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Northwestern are $56,567 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Northwestern is ranked #1 for overall quality for public administration and social service in the Great Lakes Region .

Read More…

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 18 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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