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Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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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.

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

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

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.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at GSU are $8,320 a year.

Read full report on Social Work at Governors State University

The excellent master’s degree programs at Illinois State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social work schools in Illinois. Illinois State is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Normal.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Illinois State are $9,773 a year.

Illinois State did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Read full report on Social Work at Illinois State University

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.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SIUE are $9,316 a year.

Read More…

#4

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Aurora University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s 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.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Aurora also is in the top 20% of our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.

Read full report on Social Work at Aurora University

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Chicago State University is a great value for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Chicago, CSU is a public school with a small student population.

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

Read More…

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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 #6 on the list. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UIUC graduate students pay an average of $17,823 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UIUC also took the #3 spot in our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

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

With a ranking of #7, Northeastern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Northeastern Illinois University is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Northeastern Illinois University are $9,428 per year.

Read More…

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

#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 fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at The Erikson Institute are $20,588 per year.

Read full report on Social Work at Erikson Institute

University of St Francis ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large 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

Best Value Social Work Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Social Work Colleges 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.

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