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

a master's degree in public administration & social service is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #5 out of 37 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 34 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,951 master's degrees in public administration & social service during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

The public administration & social service master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality public administration & social service program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 - How many other public administration & social service students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• 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 master'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 schools for public administration & social service students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Southwest 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 Southwest Region

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

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

1

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

267 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in public administration & social service needs to take a look at The University of Texas at Austin. UT Austin is a very large public university located in the city of Austin.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from The University of Texas at Austin

2

Arizona State University - Tempe
Tempe, AZ

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

292 Annual Graduates

Arizona State University - Tempe is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a master's degree in public administration & social service. Located in the medium-sized city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Arizona State University - Tempe

3

The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

735 Annual Graduates

The University of Texas at Arlington is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in public administration & social service. UT Arlington is a very large public university located in the large city of Arlington.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from The University of Texas at Arlington

4

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
Norman, OK

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

354 Annual Graduates

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in public administration & social service. University of Oklahoma is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Norman.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

5

Baylor University
Waco, TX

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

187 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Baylor University

6

Our Lady of the Lake University
San Antonio, TX

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

199 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of San Antonio, OLLU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Our Lady of the Lake University

7

Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

264 Annual Graduates

Grand Canyon University is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the large city of Phoenix.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Grand Canyon University

8

University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

37 Annual Graduates

University of Arizona is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Tucson.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from University of Arizona

9

University of Phoenix - Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

118 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Phoenix, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from University of Phoenix - Arizona

10

Arizona State University - Skysong
Scottsdale, AZ

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

369 Annual Graduates

ASU - Skysong is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Scottsdale.More information about a master’s in public administration & social service from Arizona State University - Skysong

Best Public Administration & Social Service Colleges by State

Explore the best public administration & social service schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Arizona	32	1,164
Texas	32	3,067
Oklahoma	32	278
New Mexico	31	264

View All Rankings >

Public Administration & Social Service Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Public Administration	1,233
Public Policy	293
Human Services	44
Community Organization & Advocacy	29

Most Popular Majors Related to Public Administration & Social Service

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	1,170

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.