2025 Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools
Social Work is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #3 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 246 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for social work students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 33,436 master'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 Master's Degree
Your choice of social work for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master'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 master'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 much debt social work students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized social work related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for social work students working on their master'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 Master's Degree Schools.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Social Work in the United States
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in social work. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
25 Top Schools for a Master's in Social Work
It is difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a master's degree in social work. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Those social work students who get their master's degree from University of Southern California earn $9,254 more than the average social work graduate.
More information about a master’s in social work from University of Southern California
New York University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a master's degree in social work. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the social work major at New York University make $5,668 above the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a master’s in social work from New York University
University of Chicago is a great choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in social work. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
After graduation, social work master's recipients typically earn an average of $52,551 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a master’s in social work from University of Chicago
University of California - Berkeley is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in social work. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley.More information about a master’s in social work from University of California - Berkeley
Rutgers New Brunswick is a fairly large public university located in the small city of New Brunswick.
Those social work students who get their master's degree from Rutgers University - New Brunswick make $2,181 more than the average social work student.
More information about a master’s in social work from Rutgers University - New Brunswick
Ohio State is a very large public university located in the city of Columbus.
Students who graduate with their master's from the social work program state that they receive average early career income of $50,524.
More information about a master’s in social work from Ohio State University - Main Campus
Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduation, social work master's recipients generally earn about $50,602 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a master’s in social work from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a very large student population.
Social Work master's degree recipients from University of Wisconsin - Madison earn a boost of around $2,504 above the typical income of social work majors.
More information about a master’s in social work from University of Wisconsin - Madison
Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a very large student population.
After graduation, social work master's recipients typically earn an average of $53,515 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a master’s in social work from The University of Texas at Austin
ASU - Tempe is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Tempe.
Those social work students who get their master's degree from Arizona State University - Tempe make $2,459 more than the standard social work graduate.
More information about a master’s in social work from Arizona State University - Tempe
