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

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

69 Colleges
$48,536 Avg Salary

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

In 2020-2021, 53,252 public administration and social service students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #6 most popular in the country.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 69 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree 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 & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the public administration and social service master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

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

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Northwestern University the best school in the Great Lakes Region for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Northwestern University Report

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Chicago helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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

#3

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Marquette University is a great place for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

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

University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.

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With a ranking of #7, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of Whitewater, UW - Whitewater is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

With a ranking of #8, Case Western Reserve University did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#9

Erikson Institute

Chicago, IL

Erikson Institute 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 large city of Chicago, The Erikson Institute is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

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With a ranking of #10, Indiana University - South Bend did quite well on this year’s best schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Indiana University - South Bend is a small public school located in the city of South Bend.

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Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Public & Social Service students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI
12 Aurora University Aurora, IL
13 Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration and social service colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 2,690
Indiana 1,347
Ohio 1,347
Wisconsin 532
Michigan 1,815

Public Administration & Social Service Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 33,631
Public Administration 13,571
Public Policy 3,737
Human Services 1,277
Community Organization & Advocacy 741
Other Public Administration 295

Related Major Annual Graduates
Legal Professions 45,189
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 13,045
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 10,452
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 1,613

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 University of the Fraser Valley.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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