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Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Kentucky

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2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Kentucky

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$11,428 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,536 Avg Salary

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

Out of the majors we analyze each year, public administration and social service was ranked 5th in Kentucky. In fact, 1,040 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Kentucky ranking. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in Kentucky to see which master's degree 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Colleges.

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

#1

Northern Kentucky University

Highland Heights, KY

Our 2023 rankings named Northern Kentucky University the best value school in Kentucky for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. NKU is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Highland Heights.

NKU graduate students pay an average of $10,284 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

#2

Kentucky State University

Frankfort, KY

The excellent master’s degree programs at Kentucky State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public administration and social service schools in Kentucky. KY State is a small public school located in the distant town of Frankfort.

KY State graduate students pay an average of $8,880 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

#3

Campbellsville University

Campbellsville, KY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Campbellsville University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. Located in the town of Campbellsville, Campbellsville University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Campbellsville University are $8,773 a year.

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

#4

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Kentucky. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. UK is a fairly large public school located in the city of Lexington.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UK are $13,674 a year.

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

#5

University of Louisville

Louisville, KY

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Louisville is a great value for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. UofL is a fairly large public school located in the city of Louisville.

UofL graduate students pay an average of $13,725 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UofL is ranked #5 for overall quality for public administration and social service in Kentucky.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at University of Louisville Report

#6

Spalding University

Louisville, KY

With a ranking of #6, Spalding University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Spalding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Louisville.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Spalding are $12,106 a year.

Spalding also took the #3 spot in our Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky rankings.

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

Eastern Kentucky University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky ranking. Located in the town of Richmond, Eastern is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Eastern are $10,200 a year.

Read More…

#8

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

Western Kentucky University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. WKU is a large public school located in the small city of Bowling Green.

WKU graduate students pay an average of $12,140 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

Morehead State University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. Morehead State University is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Morehead.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Morehead State University are $10,557 a year.

Read More…

#10

Murray State University

Murray, KY

Murray State University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Kentucky list. Murray State is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Murray.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Murray State are $9,882 per year.

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

Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Mississippi 244
Florida 1,526
Virginia 1,152
Tennessee 853
North Carolina 1,324
Georgia 885
West Virginia 317
Louisiana 842
South Carolina 308
Arkansas 372
Alabama 1,018

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 11 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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