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

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$11,428 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,536 Avg Salary

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

In 2020-2021, public administration and social service students earned 2,072 degrees and certificates from a Kentucky school, making the subject the 7th in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

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 Kentucky ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in Kentucky 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.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Colleges.

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

#1

Northern Kentucky University

Highland Heights, KY

Our analysis found Northern Kentucky University to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Kentucky. Located in the large suburb of Highland Heights, NKU is a public college with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NKU are $10,284 per year.

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#2

Kentucky State University

Frankfort, KY

Out of the 11 schools in Kentucky that were part of this year’s ranking, Kentucky State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the town of Frankfort, KY State is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at KY State are $8,880 a year.

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#3

Campbellsville University

Campbellsville, KY

The excellent master’s degree programs at Campbellsville University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public administration and social service schools in Kentucky. Campbellsville University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the town of Campbellsville.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Campbellsville University are $8,773 per year.

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

#4

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Kentucky. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UK are $13,674 a year.

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

#5

University of Louisville

Louisville, KY

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Louisville. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the large city of Louisville, UofL is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UofL are $13,725 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UofL is ranked #5 for overall quality for public administration and social service in Kentucky.

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#6

Spalding University

Louisville, KY

Spalding University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the large city of Louisville, Spalding is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Spalding are $12,106 per year.

Spalding did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Spalding University Report

Eastern Kentucky University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky ranking. Eastern is a large public school located in the town of Richmond.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Eastern are $10,200 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Eastern Kentucky University Report

#8

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

Western Kentucky University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky ranking. Located in the small city of Bowling Green, WKU is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at WKU are $12,140 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Western Kentucky University

Morehead State 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 #9 on the list. Located in the remote town of Morehead, Morehead State University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Morehead State University are $10,557 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Morehead State University

#10

Murray State University

Murray, KY

With a ranking of #10, Murray State 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 remote town of Murray, Murray State is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Murray State graduate students pay an average of $9,882 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
North Carolina 2,840
West Virginia 504
Florida 4,199
Virginia 2,154
Arkansas 683
Mississippi 752
South Carolina 708
Louisiana 1,118
Alabama 1,668
Georgia 1,475
Tennessee 1,564

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 11 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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