2025 Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Missouri
Ranked #3 in popularity,
social work is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 5 schools in Missouri to determine which ones were the best for social work students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 465 master's degrees in social work during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Social Work School for Your Master's Degree
The social work master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality social work program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on social work students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of social work students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for social work to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
- 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 colleges for social work students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Social Work Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools in Missouri list, to help you choose the best school for you.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Social Work in Missouri
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for social work students seeking a a master's degree.
Top Missouri Schools for a Master's in Social Work
It is hard to beat Saint Louis University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in social work. Located in the large city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the social work program make about $48,270 in their early career salary.
More information about a master’s in social work from Saint Louis University
Missouri State University - Springfield is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in social work. Missouri State is a very large public university located in the city of Springfield.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the social work program earn about $47,154 for their early career.
More information about a master’s in social work from Missouri State University - Springfield
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in social work needs to take a look at University of Missouri - St Louis. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, UMSL is a public university with a large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the social work program state that they receive average early career wages of $48,620.
More information about a master’s in social work from University of Missouri - St Louis
Park University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in social work. Park University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Parkville.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the social work program earn about $49,077 for their early career.
More information about a master’s in social work from Park University
MBU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in social work from Missouri Baptist University