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Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

22 Colleges
$24,974 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,772 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service School for You

In 2020-2021, public administration and social service students earned 2,690 degrees and certificates from an Illinois school, making the subject the 5th in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

The Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 22 schools in Illinois 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 Illinois

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

Governors State University

University Park, IL
$10,108 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Governors State University to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a degree in Illinois. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at GSU are $10,108 a year.

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$13,968 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois list. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Illinois State are $13,968 a year.

Illinois State did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois list.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Illinois State University Report

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Northern Illinois University is a great value for public administration and social service students. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

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

$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Western Illinois University is a great value for public administration and social service students. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Macomb.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WIU are $13,297 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Western Illinois University Report

$12,053 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Springfield. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Springfield, UIS is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIS are $12,053 a year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Illinois at Springfield Report

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

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

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

#7

Aurora University

Aurora, IL
$26,760 Average Tuition & Fees

Aurora University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Aurora are $26,760 per year.

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

$11,204 Average Tuition & Fees

Chicago State University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois list. CSU is a small public school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSU are $11,204 per year.

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

#9

Concordia University, Chicago

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

Concordia University, Chicago landed the #9 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 college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Concordia University, Chicago are $34,310 per year.

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

$17,634 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students. UIUC is a very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIUC are $17,634 per year.

UIUC also made our Best Public & Social Service Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #3.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
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 22 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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