2025 Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region
85Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
14,862Public Administration & Social Service Degrees Awarded
$47,851Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in public administration & social service, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #14 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 85 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 14,862 degrees in public administration & social service to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Public Administration & Social Service School
Your choice of public administration & social service school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Public Administration & Social Service School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Public Administration & Social Service Degree Level
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Public Administration & Social Service in the Great Lakes Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the public administration & social service degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
17 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Public Administration & Social Service
University of Chicago is a great decision for students interested in a degree in public administration & social service. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were approximately 563 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year. Those public administration & social service students who get their degree from University of Chicago receive $10,440 more than the average public administration & social service graduate.
Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in public administration & social service. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were roughly 225 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public administration & social service major at Northwestern University get $27,980 above the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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Indiana University - Bloomington is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in public administration & social service. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were approximately 639 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the public administration & social service program state that they receive average early career wages of $49,674.
Loyola University Chicago is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in public administration & social service. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #100 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Loyola Chicago is a great university overall.
There were approximately 360 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the public administration & social service degree program at Loyola University Chicago get $3,983 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were roughly 619 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Public Administration & Social Service degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive an earnings boost of approximately $8,092 above the average income of public administration & social service graduates.
Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were about 843 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the public administration & social service program earn an average of $47,089 in the first couple years of their career.
UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 260 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the public administration & social service program earn an average of $48,783 in the first couple years of working.
Improve the lives of individuals, families and communities with the human service tools gained from this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 359 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the public administration & social service program at University of Wisconsin - Madison earn $7,710 above the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Aurora. This university ranks 11th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 786 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at Aurora in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, public administration & social service degree recipients usually make about $49,690 in the first five years of their career.
IUPUI is a fairly large public university located in the city of Indianapolis. This university ranks 7th out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.
There were approximately 887 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at IUPUI in the most recent data year. Public Administration & Social Service degree recipients from Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis receive an earnings boost of about $2,180 over the average income of public administration & social service majors.
Located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 237 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at Central Michigan in the most recent year we have data available. Public Administration & Social Service degree recipients from Central Michigan University get an earnings boost of around $5,073 over the average earnings of public administration & social service majors.
BS in Business Administration - Public AdministrationProgram Name
Prepare yourself to make the decisions that best serve a community, its constituents and its economic growth with this specialized business degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Located in the city of Detroit, Wayne State is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 9th out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 392 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at Wayne State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the public administration & social service program state that they receive average early career wages of $48,850.
Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 301 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the public administration & social service major at University of Illinois at Chicago make $4,847 more than the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
IWU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Marion. A Best Colleges rank of #224 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means IWU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 445 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at IWU in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the public administration & social service program earn about $37,451 for their early career.
UWM is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Milwaukee. This university ranks 23rd out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were about 225 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at UWM in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the public administration & social service program make an average of $46,958 in their early career salary.
Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 119 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the public administration & social service program report average early career income of $44,695.
GVSU is a very large public university located in the town of Allendale. This university ranks 5th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 335 public administration & social service students who graduated with this degree at GVSU in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the public administration & social service program earn an average of $46,147 in their early career salary.
Rest of the Top Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
Your choice of public administration & social service school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Public Administration & Social Service School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
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