Professionals in human services are dedicated to helping people access services that meet their needs. Human services is an in-demand field with strong projected job growth. There are many schools in the United States that offer a bachelor of arts in human services.
What Is a Human Services Degree?
A human services degree will focus on topics like psychology, sociology, human behavior, ethics, public policy, and criminal justice. A bachelor of arts in human services is more general than a bachelor of social work and is ideal for those who are passionate about helping others and want to work in related fields while still keeping their options open. The highest accreditation for human services degrees comes from the Council for Standards in Human Service Education (CSHSE).
What Can You Do With a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services?
Graduates with a bachelor of arts in human services are well-placed to enter careers including social work, case management, human resources, child development, and nonprofit organization. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the average salary for social and community service managers is $67,150.
Rank | School | Location |
---|---|---|
1 | Northwest Indian College | Bellingham, Washington |
2 | SUNY Empire State College | Saratoga Springs, New York |
3 | Western Washington University | Bellingham, Washington |
4 | Ohio Christian University | Circleville, Ohio |
5 | Lincoln University | Oxford, Pennsylvania |
Best Value Human Services Degrees
We ranked the top 22 human services degree programs in the United States. To rank the schools, we looked at the cost of tuition and acceptance rate. To find the best value human services degrees, check out our rankings below.
Northwest Indian College
Northwest Indian College offers a bachelor of arts in responsive education in human services. The Community Advocates and Responsive Education in Human Services program provides students with the ability to integrate traditional values and ways of knowing with the National Standards for Human Services in order to proactively engage in the restoration of people, families, and communities. Human services students will create plans for community engagement focused on a common vision for enhancing the lives of Tribal people, develop partnerships between stakeholders and advocates, and develop a practice framework derived from an anti-oppressive paradigm for the advancement and well-being of communities.
School Overview
SUNY Empire State College
The SUNY Empire State College degree in community and human services aims to expand students’ understanding of the relationship between human needs and values and social conditions. Human services degree students will develop analytical and communication skills, as well as the knowledge and expertise to contribute to the development and maintenance of healthy communities, groups, and individuals. Many faculty mentors in community and human services have had extensive experience in the field in roles ranging from direct service to program evaluation and are available to guide students to meet personal and vocational goals.
School Overview
Western Washington University
A bachelor of arts in human services from Western Washington University allows students to make a difference in their community and empower others. Western Washington University’s human services degree attracts students from diverse backgrounds with a strong commitment to social and economic justice, human dignity, self-determination, and the desire to facilitate positive change. The three quarters of required internship are key parts of the curriculum, allowing students to engage with the community while adding to their academic experience through applied practice. The program is offered on-campus at the Bellingham and Everett locations as well as online.
School Overview
Ohio Christian University
Ohio Christian University’s bachelor of arts in human services is available on-campus or online. The program requires students to critically explore the practice of social advocacy within a biblical worldview. Human Services majors will be prepared for a variety of professions and for graduate work in criminology, counseling, psychology, and social work. Through broad exposure to readings, extensive composition activity, and oral presentations, the human services degree will develop the intellectual and practical skills needed to make a difference in their community.
School Overview
Lincoln University
The mission of the Lincoln University human services degree is to prepare students for successful careers in the helping professions. Students will use interdisciplinary knowledge and training to work in areas including community agencies, state government, private employment, and non-profit organizations. Students are also prepared to pursue graduate studies in related areas such as social work, public health, and counseling. The program is offered as a bachelor of arts in human services, as well as a bachelor of science and a minor program.
School Overview
Columbia College
Columbia College’s bachelor of arts in human services prepares students with the knowledge, values, and skills necessary to enhance their career within the helping professions working with human service agencies. Students will develop skills to work with client systems at the individual, family, group, and community levels. The human services degree from Columbia College is available online and on-campus in 24 locations around the United States.
School Overview
Lindsey Wilson College
Lindsey Wilson College offers a bachelor of arts in human services and counseling. The human services degree is an interdisciplinary program comprised of course work in psychology, sociology, counseling, and social work in combination with broad-based general education courses. Lindsey Wilson College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
School Overview
Valley City State University
The human services degree at Valley City State University prepares students to meet the growing demand for human service workers. The program combines courses from the disciplines of communications, sociology, and psychology to provide an overall understanding of the field. The curriculum is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of human behavior and to develop the skills necessary to function as a human services professional. Human services degree students are required to complete an internship, which provides supervised training in various regional agencies and service organizations.
School Overview
University of Iowa
The applied human services track at the University of Iowa is a pre-approved plan of study that combines a generalized psychology background with a variety of emphasis area choices, including aging services, community-based services, or corrections services. Students also have the option of proposing a self-defined emphasis area. Students in the bachelor of arts in human services are required to complete foundation coursework and one emphasis area.
School Overview
Southern Oregon University
A collaboration between the Psychology and Sociology and Anthropology programs, Human Services is an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree program focusing on the needs of human service professionals. Classes are conveniently scheduled at nights in Medford to accommodate the schedules of working students. The program is for students who want to better understand their community and social environment, desire to improve their career opportunities and reach educational goals, and wish to enhance specific human relations skills and strengthen their ability to work effectively in social services. SOU’s small class sizes and friendly learning environment foster close ties among students, faculty, and the community.
School Overview
California State University – Dominguez Hills
The mission of the bachelor of arts in human services from California State University — Dominguez Hills is to provide diverse members of the community with a university education that focuses on the knowledge and skills to help those in need. The human services degree is an interdisciplinary single subject major that combines courses from human services, child development, health sciences, leisure studies, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. The program includes supervised work in the field of human services through a series of fieldwork courses.
School Overview
University of Baltimore
The University of Baltimore offers a bachelor of arts in human services. Students will learn to offer guidance for coping with complex, often overlapping social, psychological and economic problems and be trained to work with the developmentally disabled, substance abusers, battered women, the homeless, and other populations in need of assistance. Students have access to internships that provides valuable, hands-on experience in private or public organizations at both local and state levels, or to an in-depth seminar that explores human services for those who are already employed in the human services field.
School Overview
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon offers a family and human services degree as a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science. Students who pursue a degree in family and human services help support the health and well-being of communities, families, and individuals through the development of prevention programs and through direct advocacy and delivery of services. Reflecting the diversity of the community and social service sector, the family and human services degree is interdisciplinary, drawing on the fields of psychology, counseling, social work, prevention science, public health, human development, and sociology.
School Overview
National Louis University
National Louis University’s health and human services degree programs provide a dynamic environment encouraging exploration and the quest for knowledge. Students looking to work in social service agencies, community health centers, and clinics will find that the bachelor of arts in human services provides them with the skills they need to deliver services to families in a direct, hands-on way.
School Overview
East Central University
East Central University offers a bachelor of arts with a human services counseling concentration. The objective of the human services degree is to provide theory and practice-based education for students interested in working with providing services for individuals, couples, families, groups, or employees. Students will learn to counsel and assist people with physical or mental health problems, drug or alcohol abuse, aging-related concerns, or job-seeking problems. Graduates with a human services degree from East Central University degree work in a wide variety of jobs throughout the United States and the world.
School Overview
University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh
The University of Wisconsin — Oshkosh College of Education and Human Services offers its human services leadership degree both on-campus and online. Through professional internships and interactive class sessions, students in the nationally-accredited human services degree program become well-rounded leaders of social change. This degree prepares students for personally and professionally rewarding career paths by equipping them with expertise in professional development and leadership, human behavior, intervention strategies, social issues, grant writing and resource allocation, conflict resolution and critical thinking, legal and ethical issues, and project planning and sustainability.
School Overview
Grand View University
A human services degree from Grand View University provides students with a well-rounded education and include the skills and experience to successfully work with individuals and communities. Students in this major are compassionate and concerned about helping others and making a difference in their communities. To enhance their human services degree, students have the option of adding a minor or second major in psychology, applying to be a part of Grand View University’s Human Services Honor Society, Tau Upsilon Alpha, or joining the human services club.
School Overview
Wingate University
Human services majors at Wingate University earn either a bachelor of science or bachelor of arts in human services. Wingate University’s human services degree introduces students to the many rewarding jobs in public outreach. The faculty combines psychology and sociology, which allows students to develop many interpersonal skills, including communication, leadership, and cross-cultural understanding. These skills transfer readily to the workforce for jobs in public relations, rehabilitation, or non-profit organizations. Every student majoring in human services participates in a 100-hour practicum internship providing work experience in autism support services, community shelters, domestic violence facilities, and school counseling centers.
School Overview
Rowan University
Rowan University provides a bachelor of arts in human services. The Human Services degree offers three unique concentration areas — direct care/direct services, administration, and criminal justice. Each concentration area is a total of 9 credits. Students also gain valuable experience during their field internship where they get course credit working at local human service organizations. Students also have the option of joining societies including the Human Services Club and Tau Upsilon Alpha, the human services honors society. Junior and senior-level courses for the program are held at the Camden campus.
School Overview
University of Minnesota Morris
The University of Minnesota Morris offers a bachelor of arts in human services. The human services degree has a versatile liberal arts focus, along with specialized tracks that allow students to focus on general human services, criminal justice, social justice, or human development. Students have ample opportunities to participate in hands-on, real-world research and work that links classroom and career. Through service-learning, internships, work in the field, and other opportunities, students get crucial practical experience that prepares them for professional life. Human services clubs at the University of Minnesota Morris include Big Friend Little Friend and Students Today Leaders Forever.
School Overview
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware offers a nationally recognized bachelor of arts in human services. Students complete course work and field placements in preparation for careers in human services, psychology, human resources, public policy, social work, and related professionals helping to support individuals and families in their communities and workplaces. Human Services majors complete at least one field experience or internship placement, gaining valuable work experience in their related fields of interest. These internships provide students with real-world experience and can lead to employment after graduation. The human services degree is accredited by CSHSE.
School Overview
Siena Heights University
Siena Heights University offers a bachelor of arts in community services. The degree represents a multidisciplinary program for students interested in or already working in human service careers. This degree prepares students for a variety of career opportunities in diverse human and social service agencies, non-profit, for-profit, faith-based, as well as government programs. Students can choose to complete a general community and human services degree, or they can enhance the program with a family systems concentration. Diverse practicum experiences are offered that include services to families, children, and youth, work placement services, probation, environmental projects, work with refugees, and services to families with a child who has a terminal illness.
School Overview
If you’re still trying to decide which human services degree is right for you, use our Degree Finder tool to help you find out more.
Our Ranking Methodology
To determine how to rank each college, we researched and evaluated each school’s estimated cost of tuition (lower is better) and acceptance rate (higher is better). We took graduate tuition rates directly from each school’s website and acceptance data from Google. We used yearly in-state tuition rates where available. After sorting each program by cost of tuition and then by acceptance rate, we let each value make up equal portions (50%) of each school’s score. Where schools were tied in the rankings, we gave additional weight to the cost of tuition.
If you work for one of the schools we ranked and you notice an error in the information we used to rank you, please feel free to contact us and let us know so we can make a correction.