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2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

126 Colleges
$14,415 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$55,530 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate School for You

Public Administration & Social Service is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 6th of all the majors we analyze. In 2020-2021, 53,252 degrees and certificates were awarded to students with this major.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. This report analyzed 126 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 15% Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Columbia Southern University

Orange Beach, AL

Our 2023 rankings named Columbia Southern University the best value school in the United States for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the town of Orange Beach, Columbia Southern University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Columbia Southern University are $4,035 a year.

Columbia Southern University also claimed a spot on our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Columbia Southern University Report

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Minnesota State University - Mankato helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public administration and social service schools in the United States. Minnesota State Mankato is a large public school located in the small city of Mankato.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,308 a year.

Minnesota State Mankato excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Minnesota State University - Mankato

#3

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of South Dakota. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the town of Vermillion, USD is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at USD are $12,768 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, USD also is in the top 15% of our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of South Dakota Report

#4

Park University

Parkville, MO

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Park University is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Park University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Parkville.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Park University are $6,435 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Park University Report

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means American Public University System is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at American Military University are $7,050 per year.

American Military University excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at American Public University System Report

Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. FDU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Teaneck.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at FDU are $10,722 per year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus

#7

Western New Mexico University

Silver City, NM

Western New Mexico University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Western New Mexico University is a small public school located in the town of Silver City.

Western New Mexico University graduate students pay an average of $10,335 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Western New Mexico University Report

#7

Montclair State University

Montclair, NJ

With a ranking of #7, Montclair State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Montclair State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Montclair.

Montclair State graduate students pay an average of $13,519 in tuition and fees each year.

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

#9

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

Liberty University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Liberty University Report

#10

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, ND

University of North Dakota ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. UND is a fairly large public school located in the city of Grand Forks.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UND are $18,968 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UND also is in the top 15% of our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.

Read More…

#11

Seattle University

Seattle, WA

Seattle University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Seattle U graduate students pay an average of $14,310 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#12

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

With a ranking of #12, Aurora University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Aurora are $14,100 a year.

Read More…

#13

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #13 on the list. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Villanova.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Villanova are $21,199 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Villanova also did well on our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

Salem State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #15 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Salem, Salem State is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Salem State graduate students pay an average of $10,477 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#16

Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS

Kansas State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #16 on the list. K -State is a very large public school located in the city of Manhattan.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at K -State are $23,949 per year.

K -State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools list.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Kansas State University Report

California University of Pennsylvania landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate public administration and social service programs. Cal U is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of California.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal U are $18,508 per year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #18, West Chester University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of West Chester, WCUPA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WCUPA are $16,758 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Public & Social Service graduate students seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
19 Wichita State University Wichita, KS
20 University of Illinois at Springfield Springfield, IL
21 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
22 University of North Alabama Florence, AL
23 University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE
24 East Central University Ada, OK
25 California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA

Public Administration & Social Service by Region

View the Best Value Public & Social Service 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 & 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.

  • 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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