2023 Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Social Work Doctor'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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 3 schools in California to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for social work students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
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.
Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Doctorate in Social Work
Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best value school in California for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #3 for overall quality for social work in California.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great value for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 20% of our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking.
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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Southern California helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social work schools in California. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
USC graduate students pay an average of $61,396 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
USC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
Full Social Work at University of Southern California Report
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 3 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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