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2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Public Administration & Social Service in Pennsylvania

6 Ranked Colleges
346 Degrees Awarded
$15,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Public Administration & Social Service is the 14th most popular major in the country with 97,666 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, public administration and social service graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $39,142 and had an average of $32,304 in loans still to pay off.

Across Pennsylvania, there were 3,788 public administration and social service graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,131 and $32,926 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 346 public administration and social service graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer a degree in public administration and social service. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public administration and social service programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public administration and social service program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania.

Top 6 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Public Administration & Social Service in Pennsylvania

#1

Community College of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Community College of Philadelphia. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania list. Community College of Philadelphia is a public institution located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 70 associates’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Community College of Philadelphia not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $7,165 for pennsylvania associate degree public administration & social service students per year to attend Community College of Philadelphia.

Full Community College of Philadelphia Public Administration & Social Service Report

#2

Harrisburg Area Community College

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Harrisburg Area Community College landed the #2 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 54 associates’s public administration and social service degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at HACC, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for HACC is $11,990 for Pennsylvania Associate Degree Public Administration & Social Service students.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Harrisburg Area Community College

#3

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

Edinboro, Pennsylvania
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania list. Located in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, this small public school handed out 13 degrees to qualified associates’s public administration and social service students in 2019-2020.

Edinboro also took the #5 spot in our “Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Edinboro is $16,833 for Pennsylvania Associate Degree Public Administration & Social Service students.

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

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Northampton County Area Community College landed the #4 spot on the list. Northampton County Area Community College is a medium-sized school located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that handed out 23 associates’s public administration and social service degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northampton Community College, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northampton Community College is $9,053 for Pennsylvania Associate Degree Public Administration & Social Service students.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Northampton Community College

#5

Harcum College

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harcum College. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania. Harcum College is a small school located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania that handed out 70 associates’s public administration and social service degrees in 2019-2020.

Harcum College also took the #3 spot in our “Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Harcum College is $23,588 for pennsylvania associate degree public administration & social service students.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Public Administration & Social Service at Harcum College

#6

Elizabethtown College

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
#2 in overall quality

Elizabethtown College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania list. This small school is located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 4 associates’s public administration and social service degrees in 2019-2020.

Etown not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Administration & Social Service Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Etown is $26,937 for pennsylvania associate degree public administration & social service students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The low student loan default rate of 3.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Elizabethtown College Public Administration & Social Service Report

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Notes and References

References

  • 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 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).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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