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Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

12 Colleges
$34,728 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$68,493 Avg Salary

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

With 33,631 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, social work is the #6 most popular major in the United States.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 12 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which doctor'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.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the social work doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Aurora University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Aurora are $14,100 a year.

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

Full Social Work at Aurora University Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UW - Madison are $25,501 a year.

UW - Madison also claimed a spot on our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Full Social Work at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Loyola University Chicago. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 per year.

Read full report on Social Work at Loyola University Chicago

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UIUC are $30,862 a year.

UIUC also claimed a spot on our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UWM are $25,651 per year.

Read More…

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree social work programs. IUPUI is a very large public school located in the city of Indianapolis.

IUPUI graduate students pay an average of $26,529 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree social work programs. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UIC graduate students pay an average of $28,468 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#8

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Michigan State are $38,638 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Michigan State also did well on our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Social Work at Michigan State University

With a ranking of #9, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their doctor’s degree. Ohio State is a very large public school located in the city of Columbus.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ohio State are $38,377 per year.

Full Social Work at Ohio State University - Main Campus Report

#10

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social work students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UChicago are $63,936 a year.

UChicago also took the #2 spot in our Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

Read More…

Best Social Work Colleges by State

Explore the best social work colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 1,332
Illinois 1,812
Ohio 1,001
Indiana 615
Wisconsin 448

Social Work is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Administration 13,571
Public Policy 3,737
Human Services 1,277
Community Organization & Advocacy 741
Other Public Administration 295

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 12 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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