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Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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

17 Colleges
$44,665 Avg Salary

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

Social Work is one of the most popular subjects to study in Illinois. With 1,812 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 6th out of all the majors we track 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Most Popular Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 17 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree 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.

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

#1

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Our analysis found Aurora University to be the most popular school for social work students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Aurora.

Women make up 90% of the social work majors at the school.

Read full report on Social Work at Aurora University

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Loyola University Chicago helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular social work schools in Illinois. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 91% of the social work majors at the school.

Read More…

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Illinois at Chicago is a great place for social work students working on their master’s degree. UIC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Chicago.

About 88% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 13% are male.

Full Social Work at University of Illinois at Chicago Report

#4

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Chicago is a great place for social work students working on their master’s degree. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Of the 166 students majoring in social work at UChicago, 19% are male and 81% are female.

Full Social Work at University of Chicago Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 155 students majoring in social work at UIUC, 9% are male and 91% are female.

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

#6

Dominican University

River Forest, IL

Dominican University ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Dominican U is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

About 89% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 11% are male.

Full Social Work at Dominican University Report

Northeastern Illinois University ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Northeastern Illinois University is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of Chicago.

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

Read More…

With a ranking of #8, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. SIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Carbondale.

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

Full Social Work at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Report

#9

Governors State University

University Park, IL

Governors 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 #9 on the list. Located in the rural area of University Park, GSU is a public college with a small student population.

About 89% of the students majoring in social work at the school are women while 11% are male.

Full Social Work at Governors State University Report

#10

Erikson Institute

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #10, Erikson Institute did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for social work students working on their master’s degree. The Erikson Institute is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Women make up 97% of the social work majors at the school.

Read More…

Best Social Work Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Most Popular Social Work Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

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

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 17 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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