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Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

9 Colleges
$19,970 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$55,530 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Graduate Certificate 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. 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.

The Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 9 schools in the Southwest Region 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 Southwest Region

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

Best Southwest Region Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Public & Social Service

#1

Western New Mexico University

Silver City, NM

Our 2023 rankings named Western New Mexico University the best value school in the Southwest Region for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. Western New Mexico University is a small public school located in the remote town of Silver City.

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

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

Out of the 9 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, East Central University landed the # 2 spot on the list. ECU is a small public school located in the remote town of Ada.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at ECU are $11,634 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at East Central University Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Texas A&M University - College Station. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Texas A&M College Station are $24,106 per year.

Texas A&M College Station not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northern Arizona University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the city of Flagstaff, NAU is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NAU are $20,125 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Northern Arizona University Report

Out of the 9 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Norman, University of Oklahoma is a public college with a very large student population.

University of Oklahoma graduate students pay an average of $23,876 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Report

The University of Texas at Arlington came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. UT Arlington is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Arlington.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UT Arlington are $24,005 per year.

Read More…

University of Central Oklahoma 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 #7 on the list. UCO is a large public school located in the suburb of Edmond.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UCO are $18,116 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Central Oklahoma Report

With a ranking of #8, The University of Texas at Dallas 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 medium-sized city of Richardson, UT Dallas is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UT Dallas graduate students pay an average of $29,252 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #9, The University of Texas at San Antonio did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their graduate certificate. UTSA is a very large public school located in the city of San Antonio.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UTSA are $27,560 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at The University of Texas at San Antonio Report

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration and social service schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 1,198
Texas 3,265
Oklahoma 292
New Mexico 331

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 9 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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