2023 Most Popular Social Work Schools
Finding the Best Social Work School for You
In 2020-2021, 58,326 people earned a degree or certificate in social work, making the major the #13 most popular in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.
The Most Popular Social Work Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 830 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Social Work program at each school on the list.
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2023 Most Popular Social Work Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Social Work Colleges.
Top 25 Most Popular Schools in Social Work
Our 2023 rankings named University of Southern California the most popular school in the United States for social work students. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
The excellent programs at Fordham University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best social work schools in the United States. Fordham U is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Bronx.
After completing their degree, social work graduates from Fordham U carry an average student debt load of $27,000.
Out of the 830 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Texas at Arlington landed the # 3 spot on the list. UT Arlington is a very large public school located in the city of Arlington.
On average, social work graduates from UT Arlington take out $24,083 in student loans while working on their degree.
Read full report on Social Work at The University of Texas at Arlington
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rutgers University - New Brunswick. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Social Work Schools list. Located in the city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public school with a very large student population.
The average amount in student loans that social work majors at Rutgers New Brunswick take out is $26,000. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $146.
Full Social Work at Rutgers University - New Brunswick Report
Aurora University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
On average, social work graduates from Aurora take out $27,000 in student loans while working on their degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $135, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
Hunter College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Schools ranking. Hunter is a fairly large public school located in the large city of New York.
After completing their degree, social work graduates from Hunter carry an average student debt load of $10,000.
Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Schools list. IUPUI is a very large public school located in the large city of Indianapolis.
After completing their degree, social work graduates from IUPUI carry an average student debt load of $23,842.
Simmons University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for social work students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Boston, Simmons is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
After completing their degree, social work graduates from Simmons carry an average student debt load of $27,000.
New York University ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Schools list. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
On average, social work graduates from NYU take out $23,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
With a ranking of #11, University of Denver did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students. Located in the large city of Denver, DU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
With a ranking of #12, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students. Ohio State is a very large public school located in the city of Columbus.
The average amount in student loans that social work majors at Ohio State take out is $27,000. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $145, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
Full Social Work at Ohio State University - Main Campus Report
Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for social work students. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Wayne State University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Detroit, Wayne State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that social work majors at Wayne State take out is $30,013. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $116.
Arizona State University - Tempe ranked #15 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Schools list. ASU - Tempe is a very large public school located in the city of Tempe.
While working on their degree, social work majors at ASU - Tempe accumulate an average of around $20,095 in student debt. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $193.
Read full report on Social Work at Arizona State University - Tempe
University of Maryland - Baltimore landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular social work programs. Located in the city of Baltimore, UMB is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Full Social Work at University of Maryland - Baltimore Report
The University of Tennessee - Knoxville came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Schools ranking. UT Knoxville is a very large public school located in the city of Knoxville.
The average amount in student loans that social work majors at UT Knoxville take out is $22,000.
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Schools ranking. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.
University of Central Florida ranked #19 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Schools list. Located in the suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public school with a very large student population.
While working on their degree, social work majors at UCF accumulate an average of around $25,280 in student debt.
With a ranking of #20, Our Lady of the Lake University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students. OLLU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Antonio.
While working on their degree, social work majors at OLLU accumulate an average of around $27,099 in student debt.
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College ranked #21 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Schools list. Louisiana State University is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Baton Rouge.
University of Kentucky did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for social work students. It came in at #22 on the list. Located in the city of Lexington, UK is a public college with a fairly large student population.
After completing their degree, social work graduates from UK carry an average student debt load of $26,000. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $309, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
With a ranking of #23, Portland State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students. Located in the city of Portland, Portland State University is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that social work majors at Portland State University take out is $25,000.
Read full report on Social Work at Portland State University
University of Utah ranked #24 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public college with a very large student population.
While working on their degree, social work majors at U of U accumulate an average of around $18,660 in student debt.
Boston University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for social work students. It came in at #25 on the list. Boston U is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.
After completing their degree, social work graduates from Boston U carry an average student debt load of $27,000.
Rest of the Top 50 Most Popular Social Work Schools
Additional Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the schools awarded a Most Popular Social Work Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 830 different United States social work schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional popular schools for Social Work students that almost earned our Most Popular Social Work Schools award.
Social Work by Region
View the Most Popular Social Work Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
Majors Related to Social Work
Social Work is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.
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 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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