2023 Best Value Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 4,819 degrees and certificates were awarded to social work students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #26 most popular major in the state.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 15 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for social work students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named California State University - East Bay the best value school in California for social work students working on their bachelor’s degree. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Hayward.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal State East Bay are $6,995 a year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.
San Jose State undergraduate students pay an average of $7,852 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fresno. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Fresno.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Fresno State are $6,653 a year. Social Work majors at Fresno State take out an average of $15,342 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - San Bernardino. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. CSUSB is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of San Bernardino.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUSB are $7,213 a year. The average amount in student loans that social work majors at CSUSB take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $15,099.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means California State University - Los Angeles is a great value for social work students working on their bachelor’s degree. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Cal State LA undergraduate students pay an average of $6,785 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that social work majors at Cal State LA take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $15,648.
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California State University - Long Beach came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSULB are $6,846 per year. The average amount in student loans that social work majors at CSULB take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $15,000.
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California State University - Sacramento did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social work students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Sac State is a very large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Sac State are $7,392 per year. On average, social work graduates from Sac State take out $22,418 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $159.
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San Diego State University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Diego.
SDSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,136 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, social work graduates from SDSU carry an average student debtload of $18,278.
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California State University - Chico did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social work students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Chico, Chico State is a public college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Chico State are $7,864 a year. Social Work majors at Chico State take out an average of $19,251 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.
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With a ranking of #10, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Berkeley are $14,226 a year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, social work majors at UC Berkeley accumulate an average of around $15,457 in student debt.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UC Berkeley also did well on our Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Request InformationBest Value Social Work Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Social Work Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 678 |
| Oregon | 501 |
| Nevada | 462 |
| Hawaii | 199 |
| Alaska | 76 |
More Social Work Rankings in California
Social Work Related Majors for Social Work
One of 5 majors within the area of study, social work has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related 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 15 schools only.
- 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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