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Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania

2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

6 Colleges
$21,022 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$55,530 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, 3,560 degrees and certificates were awarded to public administration and social service students who went to a Pennsylvania college or university. This makes it the #13 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This report analyzed 6 schools in Pennsylvania 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.

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 Pennsylvania Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Public & Social Service

Our 2023 rankings named California University of Pennsylvania the best value school in Pennsylvania for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of California, Cal U is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Cal U graduate students pay an average of $12,919 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend West Chester University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania list. WCUPA is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of West Chester.

WCUPA graduate students pay an average of $11,898 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#3

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Out of the 6 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Villanova University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Villanova are $21,199 a year.

Villanova also took the #4 spot in our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania rankings.

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Out of the 6 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Millersville University of Pennsylvania landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Millersville, Millersville is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Millersville are $11,934 per year.

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Out of the 6 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Pitt is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Pitt are $25,248 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Report

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#6

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UPenn are $42,932 a year.

UPenn not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania list.

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

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Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
New Jersey 2,776
New York 10,504
Maryland 1,766
Delaware 443
District of Columbia 874

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 6 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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