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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

48 Colleges
$16,335 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$44,665 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Work Master'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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 48 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools

#1

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Spring Arbor University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Spring Arbor are $8,383 a year.

Full Social Work at Spring Arbor University Report

#2

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ferris State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Ferris is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Big Rapids.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 per year.

Full Social Work at Ferris State University Report

#3

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Youngstown State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small city of Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a public school with a large student population.

Youngstown State University graduate students pay an average of $6,931 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Social Work at Youngstown State University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the rural area of Marion, IWU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

IWU graduate students pay an average of $10,440 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Social Work at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global

Out of the 48 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the # 5 spot on the list. SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Edwardsville.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

Read More…

#6

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Aurora.

Aurora graduate students pay an average of $14,100 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Illinois State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $11,773 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Illinois State also did well on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Social Work at Illinois State University Report

University of Akron Main Campus ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the midsize city of Akron, University of Akron Main Campus is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,936 a year.

Read More…

University of Wisconsin - Whitewater 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 #9 on the list. UW - Whitewater is a large public school located in the town of Whitewater.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UW - Whitewater are $19,190 a year.

Read More…

University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. UW Oshkosh is a large public school located in the small city of Oshkosh.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UW Oshkosh are $18,760 a year.

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

Best Social Work Colleges by State

Explore the best social work colleges 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 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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