2023 Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Social Work Master's Degree 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.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 322 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular master's degree 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.
2023 Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Colleges.
Top 25 Most Popular Schools for a Master's in Social Work
Our analysis found Fordham University to be the most popular school for social work students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Fordham U is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Bronx.
Of the 1,036 students majoring in social work at Fordham U, 10% are male and 90% are female.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Southern California. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Of the 888 students majoring in social work at USC, 15% are male and 85% are female.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Rutgers University - New Brunswick is a great place for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Women make up 87% of the social work majors at the school.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means The University of Texas at Arlington is a great place for social work students working on their master’s degree. UT Arlington is a fairly large public school located in the city of Arlington.
About 91% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 9% are male.
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Hunter College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. Hunter is a fairly large public school located in the large city of New York.
Of the 622 students majoring in social work at Hunter, 16% are male and 84% are female.
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Simmons University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. Located in the large city of Boston, Simmons is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Women make up 87% of the social work majors at the school.
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New York University ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
Women make up 87% of the social work majors at the school.
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University of Denver ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Denver, DU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Of the 500 students majoring in social work at DU, 9% are male and 91% are female.
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Columbia University in the City of New York came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Of the 487 students majoring in social work at Columbia, 12% are male and 88% are female.
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Aurora University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
Of the 478 students majoring in social work at Aurora, 10% are male and 90% are female.
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University of Maryland - Baltimore did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for social work students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the large city of Baltimore, UMB is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
Of the 411 students majoring in social work at UMB, 10% are male and 90% are female.
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Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis ranked #13 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. IUPUI is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Indianapolis.
Of the 407 students majoring in social work at IUPUI, 8% are male and 92% are female.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.
Of the 384 students majoring in social work at U-M, 14% are male and 86% are female.
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With a ranking of #15, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Ohio State is a very large public school located in the city of Columbus.
Women make up 88% of the social work majors at the school.
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Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Louisiana State University is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Baton Rouge.
About 88% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 12% are male.
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Wayne State University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Detroit, Wayne State is a public school with a very large student population.
Women make up 90% of the social work majors at the school.
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Boston University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for social work students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.
Women make up 90% of the social work majors at the school.
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Our Lady of the Lake University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. OLLU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Antonio.
Women make up 92% of the social work majors at the school.
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Arizona State University - Skysong came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. ASU - Skysong is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Scottsdale.
Of the 292 students majoring in social work at ASU - Skysong, 12% are male and 88% are female.
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With a ranking of #21, Boston College did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Women make up 86% of the social work majors at the school.
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Widener University landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. Located in the large suburb of Chester, Widener is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
About 91% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 9% are male.
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Washington University in St Louis landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Of the 262 students majoring in social work at WUSTL, 16% are male and 84% are female.
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Loyola University Chicago landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
Of the 253 students majoring in social work at Loyola Chicago, 9% are male and 91% are female.
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Stony Brook University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. SUNY Stony Brook is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Stony Brook.
Women make up 85% of the social work majors at the school.
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Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 49 | University of New England | Biddeford, ME |
| 50 | Troy University | Troy, AL |
| 51 | Edinboro University of Pennsylvania | Edinboro, PA |
| 51 | University of Chicago | Chicago, IL |
| 53 | University of Nevada - Reno | Reno, NV |
| 54 | University of Kansas | Lawrence, KS |
| 55 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA |
| 56 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
| 57 | Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global | Marion, IN |
| 58 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
| 58 | Baylor University | Waco, TX |
| 58 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX |
| 61 | University of South Carolina - Columbia | Columbia, SC |
| 61 | University of Oklahoma Norman Campus | Norman, OK |
| 63 | California State University - Northridge | Northridge, CA |
| 64 | Tulane University of Louisiana | New Orleans, LA |
Social Work by Region
View the Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree 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 27 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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