2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 98,583 people earned their degree in public administration and social service, making the major the 14th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, public administration and social service graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $40,520 and had an average of $27,642 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 874 public administration and social service graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,466 and $29,981 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 12 public administration and social service graduates with average earnings and debt of $81,283 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in public administration and social service. That schools that top this list have a program in public administration and social service in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The public administration & social service school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia”.

Top 4 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration & Social Service in District of Columbia

1

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend American University. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia. The American University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 5 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% 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%.

Read more about Public Administration & Social Service at The American University

2

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Washington University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia. George Washington University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 7 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at GWU

3

Catholic University of America
Washington, District of Columbia

#4 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Catholic University of America. The school came in at #3 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia. Catholic University of America is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 134 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full CUA Public Administration & Social Service Report

3

Howard University
Washington, District of Columbia

#6 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Howard University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Public Administration & Social Service Major in District of Columbia list. Howard is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 69 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Howard

• Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration & Social Service in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration & Social Service

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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to University of the Fraser Valley.