2024 Best Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools
Social Work is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #42 most popular doctor's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
College Factual looked at 74 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 680 doctor's degrees in social work to qualified students.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Social Work School for Your Doctor's Degree
The social work doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to social work students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other social work students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
- Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for social work to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized social work related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for social work students working on their doctor's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
The social work school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools.
Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Social Work in the United States
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for social work students seeking a a doctor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
11 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Social Work
University of Southern California is a good option for students pursuing a doctor's degree in social work. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a doctorate in social work from University of Southern California
University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in social work. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in social work from University of California - Berkeley
New York University is a wonderful option for students interested in a doctor's degree in social work. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Doctorate recipients from the social work major at New York University earn $15,789 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a doctorate in social work from New York University
It is hard to beat University of Chicago if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in social work. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in social work from University of Chicago
Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Doctorate recipients from the social work degree program at University of Pennsylvania get $8,298 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a doctorate in social work from University of Pennsylvania