🎓

Best Colleges for Social Work

50 Social Work programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Social Work, San Diego State University (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $78,813. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	Master's Degree	$78,813	$22,395	107	90.7
2	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$68,448	$11,716	72	89.9
3	California State University-Chico Chico, CA	Master's Degree	$72,273	$18,968	43	89.5
4	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$69,201	$11,000	43	89.4
5	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$67,393	$13,000	88	89.4
6	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Master's Degree	$102,199	—	168	89
7	Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor, MI	Master's Degree	$69,441	$20,500	114	88.9
8	California State University-Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA	Master's Degree	$86,527	—	75	86.7
9	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Master's Degree	$94,452	$23,688	35	86.7
10	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA	Master's Degree	$80,905	$23,688	44	86.3
11	California State University-Monterey Bay Seaside, CA	Master's Degree	$95,950	$25,500	42	84.9
12	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Master's Degree	$82,395	$30,414	273	84.8
13	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$62,955	$14,000	133	84.1
14	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$78,135	$29,958	140	83.7
15	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Doctoral Degree	$101,907	—	25	83.3
16	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX	Master's Degree	$64,161	$20,015	146	83.2
17	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	Master's Degree	$81,397	$31,100	108	82.9
18	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	Master's Degree	$81,505	$32,228	136	82.9
19	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY	Master's Degree	$77,884	$29,986	82	82.5
20	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	Master's Degree	$84,100	$33,556	94	82.2
21	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV	Master's Degree	$73,580	$31,938	187	81.8
22	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA	Master's Degree	$81,476	$37,400	130	81.7
23	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	Doctoral Degree	$105,646	—	14	81.6
24	Adelphi University Garden City, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$66,162	$20,750	43	81.4
25	Utah State University Logan, UT	Master's Degree	$66,536	$20,500	33	81.4
26	California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA	Master's Degree	$84,628	$38,800	98	81.3
27	California State University-Stanislaus Turlock, CA	Master's Degree	$84,837	$35,500	73	81.2
28	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	Master's Degree	$96,198	$35,394	61	81.1
29	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$82,838	—	17	81.1
30	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$70,273	—	43	80.6
31	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN	Master's Degree	$68,318	$23,636	36	80.5
32	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA	Master's Degree	$74,253	$29,654	52	80.2
33	New York University New York, NY	Doctoral Degree	$130,490	—	3	80.2
34	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN	Master's Degree	$64,885	$20,374	32	80.2
35	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	Master's Degree	$76,071	$41,000	601	79.5
36	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND	Master's Degree	$72,577	$31,000	63	79.4
37	CUNY York College Jamaica, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$60,820	$8,080	81	79.1
38	Utah Valley University Orem, UT	Master's Degree	$71,388	$29,164	49	79
39	Portland State University Portland, OR	Master's Degree	$77,091	$47,784	260	78.9
40	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$113,125	$116,557	122	78.8
41	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$85,426	$53,583	109	78.7
42	Simmons University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$62,992	$10,888	19	78.6
43	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY	Master's Degree	$76,568	$31,250	42	78.6
44	Portland State University Portland, OR	Bachelor's Degree	$63,456	$23,000	103	78.6
45	Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA	Master's Degree	$75,783	$40,772	78	78.4
46	Westfield State University Westfield, MA	Master's Degree	$70,061	$35,461	99	78.4
47	Stockton University Galloway, NJ	Master's Degree	$63,291	$20,500	53	78.3
48	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Master's Degree	$62,078	$15,500	37	78.2
49	California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA	Master's Degree	$77,471	$41,000	89	78.2
50	Salisbury University Salisbury, MD	Master's Degree	$67,218	$29,730	196	78.1

🔍 Filter Social Work by state & degree level →

💎

Hidden Gems for Social Work

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Social Work — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	California State University-Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$86,527	94%	86.7
2	California State University-Monterey Bay Seaside, CA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$95,950	97%	84.9
3	California State University-Stanislaus Turlock, CA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$84,837	98%	81.2
4	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$96,198	97%	81.1
5	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$68,318	95%	80.5
6	California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Arcata, CA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$74,253	98%	80.2
7	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$72,577	77%	79.4
8	Simmons University Boston, MA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$62,992	70%	78.6
9	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$76,568	92%	78.6
10	Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$75,783	88%	78.4
11	Westfield State University Westfield, MA Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$70,061	81%	78.4
12	Stockton University Galloway, NJ Strong Social Work outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$63,291	89%	78.3

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Social Work field (CIP 44.07) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Social Work programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Social Work program?+

By our outcome score, San Diego State University (California) ranks #1 for Social Work, with median graduate earnings of $78,813.

How are these Social Work programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Social Work programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

🔍 Social Work rankings (filterable)🎓 All major rankings 🏫 Browse colleges 🆓 Tuition-free colleges ⭐ All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.