2023 Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Social Work Master's Degree School for You
With 2,251 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, social work is the #19 most popular major in Pennsylvania.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. 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 Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Our analysis looked at 14 schools in Pennsylvania 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.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named West Chester University of Pennsylvania the best value school in Pennsylvania for social work students working on their master’s degree. WCUPA is a large public school located in the suburb of West Chester.
WCUPA graduate students pay an average of $11,898 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Full Social Work at West Chester University of Pennsylvania Report
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Marywood University is a great value for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Scranton, Marywood is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Marywood are $11,438 per year.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania is a great value for social work students working on their master’s degree. Ship is a moderately-sized public school located in the fringe town of Shippensburg.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ship are $11,970 per year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the town of Edinboro, Edinboro is a public college with a small student population.
Edinboro graduate students pay an average of $12,246 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Millersville University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social work schools in Pennsylvania. Located in the large suburb of Millersville, Millersville is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Millersville are $11,934 per year.
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Kutztown University of Pennsylvania came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the town of Kutztown, Kutztown University is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Kutztown University are $11,440 a year.
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Alvernia University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Alvernia is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Reading.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Alvernia are $16,130 a year.
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California University of Pennsylvania came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the small suburb of California, Cal U is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal U are $12,919 per year.
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Temple University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Temple is a very large public school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Temple are $18,278 a year.
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Widener University 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 #10 on the list. Widener is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Chester.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Widener are $25,416 per year.
Read full report on Social Work at Widener University
Request InformationBest Value Social Work Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
Explore all the Best Value Social Work Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| New York | 5,784 |
| Maryland | 1,072 |
| New Jersey | 1,893 |
| District of Columbia | 243 |
| Delaware | 100 |
More Social Work Rankings in Pennsylvania
Social Work Related Majors for Social Work
One of 5 majors within the area of study, social work has other similar majors worth exploring.
Majors Similar 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 14 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.