2025 Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Public Administration & Social Service is about average in terms of popularity for doctor's degrees programs. That is, it ranks #15 out of the 36 majors across the country that we analyze each year. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Administration & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 103 doctor's degrees in public administration & social service during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on public administration & social service students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of public administration & social service students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for public administration & social service to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized public administration & social service related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for public administration & social service students working on their doctor's degree.

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 Public Administration & Social Service Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Public Administration & Social Service in the Great Lakes Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for public administration & social service students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Doctorate in Public Administration & Social Service

1

Aurora University
Aurora, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

17 Annual Graduates

Aurora University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in public administration & social service. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Aurora.More information about a doctorate in public administration & social service from Aurora University

2

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis is a great option for students interested in a doctor's degree in public administration & social service. IUPUI is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Indianapolis.More information about a doctorate in public administration & social service from Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration & social service colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Indiana	29	18
Michigan	29	19
Ohio	29	15
Illinois	29	39
Wisconsin	27	9

View All Rankings >

Public Administration & Social Service Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	21
Public Policy	10
Community Organization & Advocacy	8

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	94

Notes and References

• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to University of the Fraser Valley. More about our data sources and methodologies.