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Online degrees in Human Ser­vices can open many doors to a wide vari­ety of com­mer­cial enter­pris­es in both the pub­lic and pri­vate sec­tors. An online degree pro­gram is great for some­one who is already work­ing a full-time job. Sup­port­ing their fam­i­lies is of the utmost impor­tance so enrolling in a degree pro­gram requires flex­i­bil­i­ty when it comes to their class sched­ule. Human Ser­vices online degree pro­grams make it easy for stu­dents to study when it is most con­ve­nient for them.

Enrolling in a degree in Human Ser­vices online also makes it pos­si­ble for the stu­dent to gain the knowl­edge they need from the school they want. If a stu­dent wants to attend a well-known uni­ver­si­ty that is far away from where they live, an online degree pro­gram will make that pos­si­ble. Many of the most well-known and pres­ti­gious col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties offer online degrees in Human Ser­vices. This means that you can earn the degree you want from the school of your choice.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Online Human Services Degree Programs

Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors focus their rank­ing of the best online human ser­vices degree pro­grams around accred­it­ed, trust­ed insti­tu­tions. With our ini­tial pool in place, we ranked pro­grams accord­ing to their cost, poten­tial salary, and stu­dent reviews.

1. Saint Joseph’s College-New York

Saint Joseph’s Col­lege-New York has a phe­nom­e­nal Human Ser­vices, BS pro­gram that is pos­si­bly the best online human ser­vices degree for learn­ers with an altru­is­tic bent. This pro­gram is designed for those who want to work with under­served pop­u­la­tions, such as vet­er­ans, home­less peo­ple, and those with sub­stance abuse addic­tions. As you move through the pro­gram, fac­ul­ty mem­bers help you choose the direc­tion you wish to take, such as work­ing with fam­i­lies and chil­dren or the men­tal­ly ill. Grad­u­ates go on to become case man­agers, advo­cates, pro­gram direc­tors and out­reach workers.

Among thou­sands of uni­ver­si­ties and col­leges ranked, Saint Joseph’s ranked #556 among top col­leges in the nation, a respectable show­ing for a school with just 824 under­grad­u­ates. With a respectable grad­u­a­tion rate of 68% and 93% of stu­dents receiv­ing finan­cial aid, St. Joseph’s is a good choice for stu­dents look­ing for a small col­lege expe­ri­ence with­out sac­ri­fic­ing qual­i­ty of edu­ca­tion. The vast major­i­ty of the school’s stu­dents sur­veyed described them­selves as hap­pen and well-ded­i­cat­ed to their studies.

What We Like: With a fac­ul­ty-stu­dent ratio of 9:1, St Joseph’s offers learn­ers unprece­dent­ed face­time with professors.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BS

Saint Joseph’s Col­lege-New York Human Ser­vices, BS

2. CSU Global

CSU Glob­al has a Human Ser­vices, BS may be a top choice for the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents seek­ing to devel­op admin­is­tra­tive respon­si­bil­i­ties in human ser­vices. Stu­dents devel­op com­mu­ni­ca­tions and ana­lyt­i­cal skills to assess the impact of diver­si­ty in human ser­vices. Learn about the micro and macro set­tings that impact this dynam­ic career path­way. Grad­u­ates mas­ter inter­ven­tion and case man­age­ment skillsets.

CSU Glob­al has over 2,000 online class­es and stu­dents appre­ci­ate the ease of get­ting the class­es they need as well as the qual­i­ty of the instruc­tors. Human ser­vices is one of the most pop­u­lar degree choic­es, and the vast major­i­ty of grad­u­ates clas­si­fy their edu­ca­tion as excel­lent or very good. Oth­er pop­u­lar majors include IT and business.

What We Like: the com­plete­ly online for­mat means that stu­dents learn at their own pace, which is ide­al for par­ents or those who have a job while studying.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BS

CSU Glob­al Human Ser­vices, BS

3. Indiana Wesleyan University

Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty’s Human Ser­vices, BS may be the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents inter­est­ed in an edu­ca­tion root­ed in bib­li­cal advo­ca­cy. Indi­ana Wes­leyan focus­es on ser­vice deliv­ery, social change and man­age­ment. After com­plet­ing this degree, under­grads are ready to work in human ser­vices orga­ni­za­tions. Learn to assess ser­vices for con­stituents in a social ser­vice agency, eval­u­ate pro­gram effec­tive­ness and devel­op man­age­ment plans for agency resources.

Indi­ana Wes­leyan is a well-regard­ed pri­vate col­lege in Mar­i­on, IN. This insti­tu­tion has 3,600 under­grads, with a com­pet­i­tive admis­sion rate of 68%. Pop­u­lar majors, besides human ser­vices, include nurs­ing and business.

What We Like: This is a great school for con­ser­v­a­tive stu­dents who want their col­lege expe­ri­ence to reflect their Chris­t­ian values.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BS

Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BS

4. Dominican University

Domini­can Uni­ver­si­ty’s Human Ser­vices, BS is a degree-com­ple­tion pro­gram that may be the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents with an inter­rupt­ed edu­ca­tion who want to com­plete their degree in 20 months. In this inter­dis­ci­pli­nary pro­gram, stu­dents learn to ana­lyze, research and write. The pro­gram mot­to is “Do good and do well!” Choose between up to two con­cen­tra­tions: sus­tain­abil­i­ty, labor rela­tions, dis­abil­i­ty advo­ca­cy, train­ing and devel­op­ment and inter­na­tion­al studies.

Domini­can is a small Catholic uni­ver­si­ty in the Chica­go area. Approx­i­mate­ly 2,000 under­grads at a time pur­sue their edu­ca­tion here. Less than sev­en out of 10 appli­cants get the nod from the admis­sions com­mit­tee, and oth­er pop­u­lar majors include nurs­ing and psychology.

High­light: The accep­tance rate is rel­a­tive­ly low at 64% but 100% of those in atten­dance receive some form of finan­cial aid.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BS

Domini­can Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BS

5. California Baptist University

The Cal­i­for­nia Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty’s Human Ser­vices, BA is prob­a­bly the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents look­ing for careers in dis­as­ter relief or fos­ter and senior care. This pro­gram preps learn­ers for ana­lyt­i­cal and prac­ti­cal tasks relat­ed to jobs in pri­vate, non­prof­it and pub­lic orga­ni­za­tions. Grad­u­ates work in hous­ing and shel­ter, vic­tims assis­tance, pub­lic safe­ty, youth devel­op­ment and sim­i­lar fields.

Cal Bap­tist is a good, pri­vate Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ty, and this mid­size insti­tu­tion has near­ly 7,000 under­grads. Four out of five appli­cants receive an invi­ta­tion to incre­ment the stu­dent body count. Pop­u­lar majors, besides human ser­vices, include busi­ness, psy­chol­o­gy and nurs­ing. Pro­fes­sors, based on accom­plish­ments and oth­er fac­tors received a B rat­ing from niche.com, and the 14:1 fac­ul­ty-stu­dent ratio is a pos­i­tive for online learn­ers look­ing for acces­si­bil­i­ty to instructors.

High­light: With a fac­ul­ty-stu­dent ratio of 14:1, online learn­ers can expect valu­able one-on-one inter­ac­tion which is a gold­en perk for online programs.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BA

Cal­i­for­nia Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BA

6. Bay Path University

Bay Path Uni­ver­si­ty’s Health & Human Ser­vices, BA may be the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents seek­ing a career in reha­bil­i­ta­tion and pro­gram man­age­ment and who want to pur­sue their degree from a well-regard­ed uni­ver­si­ty in Mass­a­chu­setts. This pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents for entry posi­tions in social ser­vices, pol­i­cy, health­care and rehab. It also pre­pares grad­u­ates for post­grad­u­ate degree stu­dents in allied health, pub­lic health, social work and spe­cial education.

An above-aver­age school, Bay Path Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty in the Spring­field Area. With few­er than 1,364 stu­dents in under­grad­u­ate enroll­ment, the online expe­ri­ence promis­es to be inti­mate. Just six out of 10 appli­ca­tions trig­ger an accep­tance let­ter, so put your best foot for­ward when writ­ing your essays.

High­light: Bay Path Uni­ver­si­ty ranks #22 out of the best online col­leges in America.

Degree: Health & Human Ser­vices, BA

Bay Path Uni­ver­si­ty Health & Human Ser­vices, BA

7. Nova Southeastern University

Nova South­east­ern Uni­ver­si­ty has a Human Ser­vices Admin­is­tra­tion pro­gram that is the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents who want to help South Flori­da’s under­rep­re­sent­ed pop­u­la­tions. Core cours­es are inter­dis­ci­pli­nary and include coun­sel­ing, man­age­ment and busi­ness com­mu­ni­ca­tions. Stu­dents chose a high­ly focused spe­cial­iza­tion, includ­ing a track for pilots. Grad­u­ate with man­age­ment skills and com­pre­hen­sive knowl­edge of your cho­sen area of busi­ness or health care.

Nova is a small uni­ver­si­ty with under 4,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents. Eight out of 10 appli­cants are except­ed in pop­u­lar majors that include human ser­vices, nurs­ing, biol­o­gy, and busi­ness. Stu­dents rat­ed pro­fes­sors a B+ for knowl­edge and achievements.

High­light: Grad­u­ate sur­veyed claimed a 90% employ­ment rate in their field after graduation.

Degree: Human Ser­vices Administration

Nova South­east­ern Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices Administration

8. Walden University

Walden Uni­ver­si­ty’s Human Ser­vices, BS is the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents look­ing for a sure thing since all appli­cants are wel­comed into the uni­ver­si­ty. This pro­gram helps stu­dents devel­op mar­ketable skills and gain the exper­tise that employ­ers need. Course­work includes direct-ser­vice skills and mas­tery of lead­er­ship for admin­is­tra­tive posi­tions. The cur­ricu­lum fol­lows stan­dards set by the Coun­cil for Stan­dards in Human Ser­vice Education.

This for-prof­it uni­ver­si­ty offers com­plete­ly online degrees. Under­grad­u­ate enroll­ment includes less than 700 stu­dents. Approx­i­mate­ly 90% of stu­dents agree that they can get the class­es they need when then need them and 79% give the school high marks for man­age­able workloads.

High­light: All appli­cants are accept­ed and 100% of stu­dents receive finan­cial aid.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BS

Walden Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BS

9. Liberty University

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty’s Human Ser­vices, BS is the best online human ser­vices degree look­ing for a high-val­ue degree from a rec­og­nized online uni­ver­si­ty. For elearn­ers with careers and fam­i­lies to jug­gle, the online for­mat pro­vides access to cours­es and lets them pur­sue a mean­ing­ful career in the human ser­vices field. Cours­es include social prob­lems, cri­sis inter­ven­tion, diver­si­ty aware­ness and sub­stance abuse. Grad­u­ates also emerge ful­ly pre­pared for post­grad­u­ate stu­dents in human services.

This large uni­ver­si­ty has over 27,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents and offers exten­sive intern­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties, includ­ing some for humans ser­vices majors. This makes you imme­di­ate­ly more valu­able to poten­tial employ­ers. Four out of five stu­dents found work in their field with­in two years of grad­u­at­ing, and 90% of stu­dents had high con­fi­dence in the mar­ketabil­i­ty of a Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty edu­ca­tion. The uni­ver­si­ty is not­ed for an active Chris­t­ian com­mu­ni­ty that online stu­dents can join online.

High­light: Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty is ranked #2 by Niche.com’s rank­ing of top online col­leges in the country.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BS

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BS

10. Grace College and Theological Seminary

Grace Col­lege and The­o­log­i­cal Sem­i­nary’s Human Ser­vices Bach­e­lor degree is the best online human ser­vices degree for mid­west­ern stu­dents look­ing for a well-round­ed degree that pre­pares them for a career of Chris­t­ian ser­vice. Stu­dents learn to help peo­ple deal­ing with issues that require out­side sup­port. Online learn­ers at Grace dis­cov­er a unique bach­e­lor’s pro­gram with a bib­li­cal world­view. Tak­ing cours­es online allows stu­dents to give their time to vol­un­teer work, fam­i­ly or career pursuits.

This pri­vate, Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ty has just 1,381 stu­dents and accepts 82% of appli­cants, giv­ing stu­dents an excel­lent chance of adding to the cur­rent ros­ter of under­grad­u­ates at Grace. Pop­u­lar majors include human ser­vices, busi­ness and crim­i­nal jus­tice. Grace Col­lege has a low­er appli­ca­tion fee than sim­i­lar schools and 100% of stu­dents receive stu­dent aid.

High­light: Grace Col­lege offers cred­its for doc­u­ment­ed life expe­ri­ences after high school, includ­ing on-the-job learn­ing, ath­let­ics, music lessons and com­put­er courses.

Degree: Human Ser­vices Bachelor

Grace Col­lege Human Ser­vices Bachelor

11. William Woods University

William Woods Uni­ver­si­ty’s Deaf Human Ser­vices, BS, is the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents who want to make a dif­fer­ence by using sign lan­guage. This pro­gram teach­es safe­ty plan­ning, case man­age­ment, inter­ven­tion and advo­ca­cy to work in a vari­ety of deaf ser­vices roles. Stu­dents learn cross-cul­tur­al skills valu­able to roles serv­ing the deaf com­mu­ni­ty. Native sign­ers teach sign lan­guage to hear­ing and non-hear­ing stu­dents who enroll in the program.

A pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty steeped in the Chris­t­ian tra­di­tion, William Woods is a tiny school with just 770 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents. If you are lucky enough to get the nod from the admis­sions com­mit­tee (accep­tance rate is 64%), you can choose the pop­u­lar sign lan­guage major.

High­light: This ful­ly online degree offers stu­dents a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn sign lan­guage and pur­sue roles as teach­ers, inter­preters and sup­ports of those with a hear­ing impairment.

Degree: Deaf Human Ser­vices, BS

William Woods Uni­ver­si­ty Deaf Human Ser­vices, BS

12. Ohio Christian University

Ohio Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty’s Human Ser­vices, BA is the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents prepar­ing for grad­u­ate work in coun­sel­ing, crim­i­nol­o­gy and social work in Ohio. Stu­dents learn to crit­i­cal­ly look at social advo­ca­cy from a bib­li­cal world­view. Human ser­vices majors receive expo­sure to broad read­ing assign­ments and oral instruc­tion. The pro­gram focus­es on mak­ing an impact in the community.

Ohio Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty offers all stu­dents a com­plete edu­ca­tion designed to devel­op crit­i­cal think­ing that aligns with their intel­lec­tu­al and spir­i­tu­al beliefs. All pro­grams focus on the uni­ver­si­ty’s core val­ues of build­ing pos­i­tive fam­i­lies, careers and com­mu­ni­ties. Most stu­dents, 84%, receive some form of finan­cial aid.

High­light: With a 100% accep­tance rate, OCU offers access to high­er edu­ca­tion to every­one who wants it.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BA

Ohio Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BA

13. Lees-Mcrae College

Lees-Mcrae Col­lege’s Human Ser­vices, BAAS is the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents look­ing for a bridge to a four-year degree at Lees-Mcrae Col­lege. For those who want to work in human ser­vices, the right edu­ca­tion is key. With this degree, grad­u­ates assist indi­vid­u­als, fam­i­lies and com­mu­ni­ties, exhibit­ing patience and care. Grad­u­ates go on to degrees in addic­tion pro­grams and advo­cate for elders suf­fer­ing from abuse. This degree sup­ports an array of interests.

Lees-McRae is a pri­vate col­lege with less than 1,000 under­grad stu­dents. Admis­sions is com­pet­i­tive and just 57% of appli­cants are accept­ed. Besides human ser­vices, oth­er pop­u­lar majors include nurs­ing, zool­o­gy and law enforce­ment administration.

High­light: Every sin­gle stu­dent at Lees-Mcrae receives finan­cial aid, mak­ing this an attrac­tive option for stu­dents who want the con­ve­nience of an online degree but also need help pay­ing for school.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BAAS

Lees-Mcrae Col­lege Human Ser­vices, BAAS

14. Judson University

Jud­son Uni­ver­si­ty has a Human Ser­vices, BA that may be the best online human ser­vices degree for stu­dents look­ing to work with chil­dren, youth and adults. This pro­gram cre­ates lead­ers pro­duced through faith and crit­i­cal analy­sis. Stu­dents devel­op inter­per­son­al com­pe­tence skills need­ed and learn to respect the diver­si­ty, dig­ni­ty and val­ue of all peo­ple. If you want to make a pos­i­tive change for those fac­ing chal­lenges such as oppres­sion, men­tal health issues and home­less­ness, this might be the right place do it.

Jud­son is locat­ed in the Chica­go area and is a pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty with 678 under­grad­u­ate. The school turns away three out of 10 appli­cants, mak­ing entry fair­ly com­pet­i­tive. Oth­er pop­u­lar majors include archi­tec­ture, busi­ness and psychology.

High­light: Jud­son Uni­ver­si­ty offers 100% of stu­dents finan­cial aid.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BA

Jud­son Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BA

15. Southern New Hampshire University

South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty’s Human Ser­vices, BA may be the best online human ser­vices degree for those look­ing for an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive strate­gies to assess polit­i­cal, his­tor­i­cal and social trends relat­ed to human ser­vices. Grad­u­ates apply eth­i­cal and legal stan­dards to pro­vide com­pre­hen­sive care to indi­vid­u­als and com­mu­ni­ties in need. Also, you can com­plete the degree online from home or any­where with Wi-Fi.

With an 85-year track record of turn­ing out com­pas­sion­ate grad­u­ates, SNHU boasts 300 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate cer­tifi­cates and degrees. For stu­dents who want a degree that keeps pace with tech­nol­o­gy, South­ern New Hamp­shire is a great choice. The school has been rec­og­nized by U.S. News & World Report as a Most Inno­v­a­tive university.

High­light: Approx­i­mate­ly, 80% of stu­dents feel that pro­fes­sors do a good job teach­ing the mate­r­i­al, that class­es are easy to get and that the course­work is manageable.

Degree: Human Ser­vices, BA

South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty Human Ser­vices, BA

Why Should I Get My Human Services Degree Online?

Human Ser­vices online degrees allow a stu­dent to pur­sue careers in both pri­vate busi­ness­es as well as gov­ern­ment offices. Earn­ing a human ser­vices degree online also allows the stu­dent to pur­sue intern­ships through which they can gain addi­tion­al expe­ri­ence. What they learn dur­ing their time as an intern, can be used toward course cred­it, allow­ing them to advance much faster through the pro­gram and get to work build­ing their career. Online degree pro­grams are also a great way to fill con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion require­ments for stu­dents who need to main­tain cur­rent cre­den­tials. This type of degree will not only help them keep their cre­den­tials cur­rent, the stu­dent will also learn updat­ed infor­ma­tion about heir cho­sen career.

What Can I Do With a Degree in Human Services?

Pub­lic health and safe­ty employ­ees work in many dif­fer­ent areas. Some work with­in local city, coun­ty, and state health depart­ments while oth­ers act as man­age­ment per­son­nel super­vis­ing how cer­tain activ­i­ties, events, or oth­er gath­er­ings are man­aged. Grad­u­ates with an online health and human ser­vices degree pro­gram are con­cerned with not only the health and med­ical aspect of things, they are also respon­si­ble for effec­tive­ly man­ag­ing the man­pow­er that is del­e­gat­ed to com­plete cer­tain tasks. Depend­ing on where they fall in the chain of the com­mand, they may be either work­ing with the pub­lic or super­vis­ing those who are being sent into the field.

Human resources and oth­er man­age­ment offices are respon­si­ble for hir­ing the right per­son for each type of job. They are also respon­si­ble for mak­ing sure all safe­ty and health pro­to­cols are fol­lowed so that acci­dents and injuries are kept to a min­i­mum. Health and human ser­vices teams are required to doc­u­ment out­breaks of dis­ease or ill­ness with­in their com­mu­ni­ties and to keep accu­rate records that are turned over to oth­er gov­ern­ment agen­cies to ensure pub­lic safe­ty. It is their over­all job to ensure that all pro­to­cols and safe­ty pro­ce­dures are fol­lowed to the letter.

The Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices plays an inte­gral role in keep­ing our com­mu­ni­ties as healthy and safe as pos­si­ble. This branch of the gov­ern­ment also han­dles a vari­ety of cas­es that deals with minors and ensur­ing they get the care they need if they are placed in the fos­ter care sys­tem. An indi­vid­ual who has earned an online degree in Human Ser­vices can step into any of these roles and make a notice­able dif­fer­ence in the world around them.

Do I Need a Degree to Get a Job in the Department of Health and Human Services?

Hav­ing a degree is not nec­es­sar­i­ly a require­ment for a job with the Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices. Stu­dents who are in the process of earn­ing their degree can apply for intern­ships that will allow them to find the right job and earn expe­ri­ence in the process. Interns earn course cred­it while they are on the job which will go toward their final cred­it require­ments. After an intern­ship is over, the employ­er may choose to offer the stu­dent a full or part-time posi­tion while they go on to fin­ish their online degree program.

Indi­vid­u­als who want to find work in the Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices can often find entry-lev­el posi­tions that don’t require a degree to get start­ed. Once a stu­dent has their foot in the door, it’s in their best inter­est to enroll in either a cer­tifi­cate pro­gram or an online Human Resources degree pro­gram that will give them the knowl­edge and train­ing they need to work in this spe­cial­ized envi­ron­ment. Hav­ing a Bach­e­lor’s degree in Human Resources is the best way to advance through the ranks and be con­sid­ered for high­er-pay­ing man­age­ment positions.

The Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices is always look­ing to hire indi­vid­u­als that are dri­ven to suc­ceed. If a per­son applies for a job with­out hav­ing a degree, they may still be con­sid­ered for the job if they have a few years of expe­ri­ence in anoth­er field or indus­try. It’s also ben­e­fi­cial if they are will­ing to return to school to earn an online degree in a field that sup­ports their career goals. Enrolling in an online degree pro­gram will allow the stu­dent to main­tain a con­sis­tent work sched­ule and attend class in their free time.

Relat­ed Rankings: 

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Human Services

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Human Services

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Human Services

15 Best Online Train­ing and Devel­op­ment Programs