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Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

3 Colleges
$12,211 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$64,120 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration Graduate Certificate School for You

Public Administration is the #17 most popular major in California with 1,533 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 3 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for public admin 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. 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.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Public Administration

Our analysis found California State University - Northridge to be the best value school for public administration students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUN are $8,477 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration at California State University - Northridge

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSULB are $8,280 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration at California State University - Long Beach

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a great value for public administration students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of San Francisco, Golden Gate University - San Francisco is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Golden Gate University - San Francisco are $19,875 per year.

Read full report on Public Administration at Golden Gate University - San Francisco

Best Value Public Administration Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 287
Oregon 62
Nevada 78
Hawaii 41
Alaska 34

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 3 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 The Official CTBTO Photostream.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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