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Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

22 Colleges
$18,280 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,536 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree School for You

With 3,948 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, public administration and social service is the #13 most popular major in Illinois.

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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 22 schools in Illinois 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.

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

#1

Governors State University

University Park, IL

Our analysis found Governors State University to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

GSU graduate students pay an average of $8,320 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Illinois State University is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Illinois State are $9,773 a year.

Illinois State also made our Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #5.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Northern Illinois University is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

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The excellent master’s degree programs at Western Illinois University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public administration and social service schools in Illinois. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Macomb.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at WIU are $12,182 per year.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.

SIUE graduate students pay an average of $9,316 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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With a ranking of #6, University of Illinois at Springfield 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 city of Springfield, UIS is a public college with a small student population.

UIS graduate students pay an average of $11,111 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#7

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

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

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

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Chicago State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. CSU is a small public school located in the large city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSU are $9,728 a year.

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#9

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Concordia University, Chicago came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378 a year.

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIUC are $17,823 per year.

UIUC also took the #3 spot in our Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

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Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 3,206
Michigan 3,411
Ohio 3,030
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 22 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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