2023 Best Value Social Work Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Social Work 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 Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 25 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value 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 Schools
Our analysis found California State University - Fresno to be the best value school for social work students who want to pursue a degree in California. 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. On average, social work graduates from Fresno State take out $11,042 in student loans while working on their degree.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means San Jose State University is a great value for social work students. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at San Jose State are $7,852 a year.
In addition to its great value ranking, San Jose State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Social Work Schools in California list.
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Out of the 25 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Los Angeles landed the # 3 spot on the list. 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. After completing their degree, social work graduates from Cal State LA carry an average student debtload of $12,394.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for social work students. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSULB are $6,846 a year. The average amount in student loans that social work majors at CSULB take out is $12,434.
Full Social Work at California State University - Long Beach Report
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Out of the 25 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - East Bay landed the # 5 spot on the list. Cal State East Bay is a large public school located in the large 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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California State University - Monterey Bay landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value social work programs. CSUMB is a moderately-sized public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Seaside.
CSUMB undergraduate students pay an average of $7,218 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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California State University - Sacramento did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for social work students. It came in at #7 on the list. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Sac State are $7,392 a year. After completing their degree, social work graduates from Sac State carry an average student debtload of $19,350. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $159.
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California State University - San Bernardino did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for social work students. It came in at #8 on the list. CSUSB is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of San Bernardino.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUSB are $7,213 per year. The average amount in student loans that social work majors at CSUSB take out is $11,000.
Full Social Work at California State University - San Bernardino Report
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California State University - Stanislaus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for social work students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the suburb of Turlock, Stan State is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Stan State are $7,644 a year.
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San Francisco State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value social work programs. SFSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Francisco.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SFSU are $7,304 per year.
Full Social Work at San Francisco State University Report
Request InformationBest Value Social Work Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Social Work Schools 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 25 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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