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Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools in California

25 Colleges
$44,665 Avg Salary

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

In 2020-2021, 4,819 degrees and certificates were awarded to social work students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #26 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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 Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 25 schools in California 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.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for social work majors pursuing a master's degree.

Our analysis found University of Southern California to be the most popular school for social work students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Women make up 85% of the social work majors at the school.

Read full report on Social Work at University of Southern California

The in-demand master’s degree programs at California State University - Long Beach helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular social work schools in California. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

About 86% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 14% are male.

Full Social Work at California State University - Long Beach Report

Out of the 25 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Jose State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

About 90% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 10% are male.

Read More…

Out of the 25 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Northridge landed the # 4 spot on the list. CSUN is a very large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

Of the 148 students majoring in social work at CSUN, 16% are male and 84% are female.

Read full report on Social Work at California State University - Northridge

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Los Angeles. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

About 82% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 18% are male.

Read full report on Social Work at California State University - Los Angeles

California Baptist University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 108 students majoring in social work at Cal Baptist, 12% are male and 88% are female.

Read full report on Social Work at California Baptist University

With a ranking of #7, California State University - Fullerton did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 88% of the social work majors at the school.

Read More…

California State University - San Bernardino landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree social work programs. CSUSB is a large public school located in the midsize city of San Bernardino.

About 86% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 14% are male.

Full Social Work at California State University - San Bernardino Report

#8

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State 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 #8 on the list. SDSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Diego.

About 90% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 10% are male.

Read More…

With a ranking of #10, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Sac State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

Women make up 95% of the social work majors at the school.

Full Social Work at California State University - Sacramento Report

Best Social Work Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Social Work Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 678
Oregon 501
Nevada 462
Hawaii 199
Alaska 76

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 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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