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Most Popular Social Work Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Social Work Schools in California

26 Colleges
$48,229 Avg Salary
$20,404 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Social Work School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, social work was ranked 8th in California. In fact, 3,305 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Most Popular Social Work Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 26 schools in California to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Social Work program at each school on the list.

Check out the social work programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in California.

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

Full Social Work at University of Southern California Report

Out of the 26 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Social Work Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Social Work at San Jose State University

Out of the 26 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 fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

Full Social Work at California State University - Northridge Report

Out of the 26 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

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California State University - Los Angeles came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Social Work Schools in California ranking. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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With a ranking of #7, California Baptist University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students. Located in the large city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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California State University - Fullerton landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular social work programs. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Social Work at California State University - Fullerton Report

California State University - San Bernardino 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. CSUSB is a large public school located in the city of San Bernardino.

Read full report on Social Work at California State University - San Bernardino

#9

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

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

Full Social Work at San Diego State University 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 403
Oregon 306
Nevada 235
Hawaii 97
Alaska 29

One of 5 majors within the area of study, social work has other similar majors worth exploring.

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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