2023 Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Social Work Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 33,631 social work students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #6 most popular in the country.
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.
The Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 284 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for social work students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
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. 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.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
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2023 Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for social work majors pursuing a master's degree.
Top 25 Best Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in Social Work
Our 2023 rankings named Minnesota State University - Mankato the best value school in the United States for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,308 a year.
Minnesota State Mankato excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Spring Arbor University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Spring Arbor graduate students pay an average of $8,383 in tuition and fees each year.
Out of the 284 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Westfield State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Westfield, Westfield is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
Westfield graduate students pay an average of $6,696 in tuition and fees each year.
Out of the 284 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Brigham Young University - Provo landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at BYU are $7,700 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, BYU also did well on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Out of the 284 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Newman University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Newman University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Wichita.
Newman University graduate students pay an average of $8,484 in tuition and fees each year.
Ferris State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Ferris is a large public school located in the town of Big Rapids.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 a year.
Youngstown State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Located in the small city of Youngstown, Youngstown State University is a public school with a large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Youngstown State University are $6,931 per year.
With a ranking of #8, Fort Hays State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the remote town of Hays, FHSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at FHSU are $11,376 a year.
Read full report on Social Work at Fort Hays State University
With a ranking of #9, Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Located in the rural area of Marion, IWU is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at IWU are $10,440 a year.
Full Social Work at Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global Report
Arizona State University - Skysong ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at ASU - Skysong are $9,982 a year.
Read full report on Social Work at Arizona State University - Skysong
Anna Maria College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Located in the rural area of Paxton, Anna Maria is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Anna Maria are $10,530 per year.
West Texas A&M University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Located in the fringe town of Canyon, West Texas A&M University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at West Texas A&M University are $8,574 per year.
Read full report on Social Work at West Texas A&M University
With a ranking of #13, Northeastern State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. NSU is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Tahlequah.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NSU are $10,911 per year.
St Catherine University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, St. Kate's is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
St. Kate’s graduate students pay an average of $17,760 in tuition and fees each year.
Northwest Nazarene 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 #15 on the list. NNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of Nampa.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NNU are $10,964 per year.
Read full report on Social Work at Northwest Nazarene University
Augsburg 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 #16 on the list. Augsburg is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Minneapolis.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Augsburg are $13,500 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Augsburg is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list.
Park University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Located in the suburb of Parkville, Park University is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Park University are $6,435 per year.
Marywood University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Located in the small city of Scranton, Marywood is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Marywood are $11,438 a year.
Saint Cloud State University ranked #20 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Saint Cloud, St. Cloud State University is a public school with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at St. Cloud State University are $13,412 a year.
Read full report on Social Work at Saint Cloud State University
With a ranking of #21, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. SIUE is a large public school located in the suburb of Edwardsville.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 a year.
San Jose State 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 #22 on the list. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
San Jose State graduate students pay an average of $18,790 in tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, San Jose State also did well on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Read full report on Social Work at San Jose State University
Montclair State University landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social work programs. Located in the large suburb of Montclair, Montclair State is a public school with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Montclair State are $13,519 per year.
Read full report on Social Work at Montclair State University
Salisbury University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Salisbury, Salisbury is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Salisbury are $15,765 a year.
Salisbury excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools list.
With a ranking of #25, Aurora University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Aurora.
Aurora graduate students pay an average of $14,100 in tuition and fees each year.
Rest of the Top Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools
Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Social Work Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, ND |
| 44 | Missouri State University - Springfield | Springfield, MO |
| 45 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester, PA |
| 46 | Concord University | Athens, WV |
| 46 | University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley, CA |
| 48 | Texas Woman’s University | Denton, TX |
| 49 | California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento, CA |
| 50 | The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | Edinburg, TX |
| 51 | Arkansas State University - Main Campus | Jonesboro, AR |
| 52 | Campbellsville University | Campbellsville, KY |
| 53 | University of Akron Main Campus | Akron, OH |
| 54 | California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton, CA |
| 54 | University of Nebraska at Omaha | Omaha, NE |
| 56 | Western New Mexico University | Silver City, NM |
| 56 | Bridgewater State University | Bridgewater, MA |
Social Work by Region
View the Best Value 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 |
More Social Work Rankings
Social Work Related Majors for Social Work
One of 5 majors within the area of study, social work has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Social Work
| 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 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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