2025 Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the New England Region

Public Administration & Social Service is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #5 most popular master's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 21 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,455 master's degrees in public administration & social service during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Public Administration & Social Service School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of public administration & social service for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

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 master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to public administration & social service students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of public administration & social service students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt public administration & social service students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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 schools for public administration & social service students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Public Administration & Social Service Schools

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 Master's Degree Schools in the New England Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Public Administration & Social Service in the New England Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in public administration & social service.

10 Top New England Region Schools for a Master's in Public Administration & Social Service

1

Simmons University
Boston, MA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

569 Annual Graduates

Simmons University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in public administration & social service. Simmons is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Simmons University

2

University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

216 Annual Graduates

University of Connecticut is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in public administration & social service. Located in the town of Storrs, UCONN is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from University of Connecticut

3

Brandeis University
Waltham, MA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

99 Annual Graduates

Brandeis University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in public administration & social service. Located in the city of Waltham, Brandeis is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Brandeis University

4

Brown University
Providence, RI

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

66 Annual Graduates

Brown University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a master's degree in public administration & social service. Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Brown University

5

Anna Maria College
Paxton, MA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

109 Annual Graduates

Located in the rural area of Paxton, Anna Maria is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Anna Maria College

6

Rhode Island College
Providence, RI

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

118 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Providence, RIC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Rhode Island College

7

Northeastern University
Boston, MA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

75 Annual Graduates

Northeastern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Northeastern University

8

University of New Hampshire - Main Campus
Durham, NH

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

127 Annual Graduates

UNH is a large public university located in the town of Durham.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from University of New Hampshire - Main Campus

9

University of Rhode Island
Kingston, RI

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

36 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Kingston, URI is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from University of Rhode Island

10

Salem State University
Salem, MA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

121 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Salem, Salem State is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Salem State University

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Massachusetts	34	2,563
Rhode Island	32	190
Connecticut	30	654
New Hampshire	27	130
Maine	27	285
Vermont	25	77

View All Rankings >

Public Administration & Social Service Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	962
Public Policy	664
Human Services	89
Community Organization & Advocacy	66
Other Public Administration	31

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	658

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.