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Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

69 Colleges
$19,059 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$38,225 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service 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.

The Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 69 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for public administration and social service students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for public administration and social service majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools

#1

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI
$31,080 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Spring Arbor University to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a degree in the Great Lakes Region . Spring Arbor is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Spring Arbor.

Spring Arbor undergraduate students pay an average of $31,080 in tuition and fees each year.

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#2

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Ferris State University is a great value for public administration and social service students. Located in the town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Ferris are $13,188 per year.

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#3

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH
$9,732 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Youngstown State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the city of Youngstown.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Youngstown State University are $9,732 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Youngstown State University Report

$9,239 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best public administration and social service schools in the Great Lakes Region . IWU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Marion.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at IWU are $9,239 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a large student population.

NIU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,738 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Northern Illinois University

$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

Western Illinois University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

WIU undergraduate students pay an average of $13,297 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Western Illinois University Report

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SIUE are $11,496 a year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

#8

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value public administration and social service programs. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Aurora are $26,760 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Aurora University Report

Illinois State University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Illinois State are $24,172 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Illinois State also did well on our Best Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Illinois State University Report

#10

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL
$34,310 Average Tuition & Fees

Concordia University, Chicago landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value public administration and social service programs. Located in the suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Concordia University, Chicago are $34,310 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Concordia University, Chicago Report

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Public & Social Service graduate students in the Great Lakes Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
12 University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH
12 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Whitewater, WI

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration and social service schools 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.

  • 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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