Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

2023 Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

15 Colleges
$18,203 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$44,665 Avg Salary

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

With 2,711 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, social work is the #11 most popular major in Illinois.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 15 schools in Illinois to see which master'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.

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.

Top 10 Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools

#1

Governors State University

University Park, IL

Our analysis found Governors State University to be the best value school for social work students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the rural area of University Park, GSU is a public college with a small student population.

GSU graduate students pay an average of $8,320 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Social Work at Governors State University

Request Information

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $9,773 per year.

Illinois State also took the #5 spot in our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Read More…

Request Information

The excellent master’s degree programs at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social work schools in Illinois. SIUE is a large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

SIUE graduate students pay an average of $9,316 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Request Information
#4

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Aurora University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Aurora.

In-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 Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Read More…

Request Information

The excellent master’s degree programs at Chicago State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social work schools in Illinois. Located in the large city of Chicago, CSU is a public college with a small student population.

CSU graduate students pay an average of $9,728 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Request Information

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UIUC are $17,823 a year.

UIUC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Full Social Work at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

Request Information

Northeastern Illinois University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Northeastern Illinois University is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Northeastern Illinois University are $9,428 a year.

Read More…

Request Information
#8

Erikson Institute

Chicago, IL

Erikson Institute 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 #8 on the list. The Erikson Institute is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The Erikson Institute graduate students pay an average of $20,588 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Request Information

University of Illinois at Chicago ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. UIC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIC are $17,277 per year.

Full Social Work at University of Illinois at Chicago Report

Request Information

With a ranking of #10, University of St Francis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 per year.

University of Saint Francis also took the #4 spot in our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Social Work at University of St Francis Report

Request Information

Best Value Social Work Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Social Work Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 2,413
Ohio 2,332
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 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.

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.