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Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

12 Colleges
$34,728 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$68,493 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Work Doctor's Degree School for You

Social Work is the #13 most popular major in the country with 58,326 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 12 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for social work students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for social work majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Top 10 Best Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Aurora University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Aurora.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Aurora are $14,100 per year.

Aurora excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Social Work at Aurora University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Wisconsin - Madison is a great value for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UW - Madison are $25,501 a year.

UW - Madison 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 the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Loyola University Chicago. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 per year.

Full Social Work at Loyola University Chicago Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social work schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population.

UIUC graduate students pay an average of $30,862 in tuition and fees each year.

UIUC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social work schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the large city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public school with a very large student population.

UWM graduate students pay an average of $25,651 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Social Work at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large city of Indianapolis, IUPUI is a public college with a very large student population.

IUPUI graduate students pay an average of $26,529 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Social Work at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis Report

University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree social work programs. UIC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UIC are $28,468 a year.

Full Social Work at University of Illinois at Chicago Report

#8

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of East Lansing.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Michigan State are $38,638 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Michigan State also is in the top 15% of our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read More…

With a ranking of #9, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public college with a very large student population.

Ohio State graduate students pay an average of $38,377 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Social Work at Ohio State University - Main Campus Report

#10

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #10, University of Chicago did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UChicago are $63,936 a year.

UChicago also took the #2 spot in our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

Full Social Work at University of Chicago Report

Best Social Work Colleges by State

Explore the best social work schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 2,413
Ohio 2,332
Illinois 2,711
Indiana 1,545
Wisconsin 1,041

One of 5 majors within the area of study, social work has other similar majors worth exploring.

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 12 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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