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Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools

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2023 Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools

75 Colleges
$64,120 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, 13,571 people earned a degree or certificate in public administration, making the major the #23 most popular in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 75 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best for public admin majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Top 15% Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Our 2023 rankings named Johns Hopkins University the best school in the United States for public administration students working on their graduate certificate. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Baltimore.

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#2

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD

The excellent graduate certificate programs at University of South Dakota helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration schools in the United States. USD is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Vermillion.

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#3

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Out of the 75 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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#4

Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Kansas State University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small city of Manhattan, K -State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration at Kansas State University

#5

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, ND

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of North Dakota. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Grand Forks, UND is a public college with a large student population.

Full Public Administration at University of North Dakota Report

#6

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration at Villanova University

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.

Read full report on Public Administration at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

With a ranking of #8, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration students working on their graduate certificate. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

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Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate public administration programs. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the city of College Station.

Full Public Administration at Texas A&M University - College Station Report

With a ranking of #10, Minnesota State University - Mankato did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public school with a large student population.

Read More…

#11

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA

Virginia Tech came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Blacksburg.

Read full report on Public Administration at Virginia Tech

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Public Administration students that almost earned our Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
12 Clemson University Clemson, SC
13 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
14 New York University New York, NY
15 University of Kansas Lawrence, KS

Public Administration by Region

View the Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Public Administration is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 33,631
Public Policy 3,737
Human Services 1,277
Community Organization & Advocacy 741
Other Public Administration 295

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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 The Official CTBTO Photostream.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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