2023 Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Social Work Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 58,326 people earned a degree or certificate in social work, making the major the #13 most popular in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
The Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 284 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2023 Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for social work majors pursuing a master's degree.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Social Work
Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best school in the United States for social work students working on their master’s degree. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means St Catherine University is a great place for social work students working on their master’s degree. St. Kate's is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Saint Paul.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great place for social work students working on their master’s degree. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Full Social Work at University of California - Los Angeles Report
Out of the 284 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Maryland - Baltimore landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Baltimore, UMB is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Full Social Work at University of Maryland - Baltimore Report
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means San Jose State University is a great place for social work students working on their master’s degree. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Jose.
Read full report on Social Work at San Jose State University
University of Southern California came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Full Social Work at University of Southern California Report
University of Chicago came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
University of St Thomas Minnesota did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social work students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
With a ranking of #9, University of Washington - Tacoma Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. UW Tacoma is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Tacoma.
Read full report on Social Work at University of Washington - Tacoma Campus
University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social work students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
University of Nevada - Reno came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Reno, UNR is a public school with a very large student population.
Minnesota State University - Mankato ranked #12 on this year’s Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mankato.
Full Social Work at Minnesota State University - Mankato Report
California State University - Stanislaus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social work students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Stan State is a large public school located in the small suburb of Turlock.
California State University - Fresno ranked #14 on this year’s Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Social Work at California State University - Fresno
The University of Texas at Austin ranked #15 on this year’s Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.
Read full report on Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin
Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social work students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Social Work at Columbia University in the City of New York
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor ranked #17 on this year’s Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. U-M is a very large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.
Full Social Work at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Report
With a ranking of #18, California State University - East Bay did quite well on this year’s best schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Full Social Work at California State University - East Bay Report
University of Washington - Seattle Campus came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Social Work at University of Washington - Seattle Campus
California State University - Monterey Bay came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Seaside, CSUMB is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
Read full report on Social Work at California State University - Monterey Bay
With a ranking of #21, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on this year’s best schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Full Social Work at Washington University in St Louis Report
With a ranking of #22, University of North Dakota did quite well on this year’s best schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. UND is a fairly large public school located in the city of Grand Forks.
With a ranking of #23, Boston University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.
With a ranking of #24, New York University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
California State University - Long Beach ranked #25 on this year’s Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.
Read full report on Social Work at California State University - Long Beach
Rest of the Top Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, TX |
| 44 | Auburn University | Auburn, AL |
| 45 | Azusa Pacific University | Azusa, CA |
| 46 | Saint Cloud State University | Saint Cloud, MN |
| 47 | Alvernia University | Reading, PA |
| 48 | The College of Saint Scholastica | Duluth, MN |
| 49 | Saginaw Valley State University | University Center, MI |
| 50 | Widener University | Chester, PA |
| 51 | George Mason University | Fairfax, VA |
| 52 | California State University - San Bernardino | San Bernardino, CA |
| 53 | Ramapo College of New Jersey | Mahwah, NJ |
| 54 | California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton, CA |
| 55 | California State University - Dominguez Hills | Carson, CA |
| 56 | Howard University | Washington, DC |
Social Work by Region
View the Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Social Work Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Social Work
Social Work is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Social Work
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Public Administration | 16,905 |
| Human Services | 13,238 |
| Public Policy | 6,430 |
| Community Organization & Advocacy | 3,096 |
| Other Public Administration | 588 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 Army Medicine.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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