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

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

69 Colleges
$13,926 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,536 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Master'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 Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 69 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value master'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.

2023 Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Master’s Degree 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 master's degree.

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

#1

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI

Our analysis found Spring Arbor University to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Spring Arbor is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor.

Spring Arbor graduate students pay an average of $8,383 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Spring Arbor University Report

#2

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Out of the 69 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ferris State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 per year.

Read More…

#3

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

Out of the 69 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Youngstown State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Youngstown.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Youngstown State University are $6,931 per year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. IWU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Marion.

IWU graduate students pay an average of $10,440 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global Report

Out of the 69 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.

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

Western Illinois University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Western Illinois University Report

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

Read More…

#8

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

With a ranking of #8, Aurora University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Aurora are $14,100 a year.

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Illinois State University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Illinois State are $11,773 a year.

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

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Illinois State University Report

#10

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Concordia University, Chicago landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Concordia University, Chicago Report

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
12 University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH
12 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Whitewater, WI

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration and social service schools 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 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.

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