2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work (Income $0-$30k) in California

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 57,618 people earned their degree in social work, making the major the 12th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, social work graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $36,459 and had an average of $30,084 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 4,949 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $45,770 and $31,817 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 160 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in social work. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent social work programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the social work program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Social Work Schools

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 “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#2 in overall quality

$29,347 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s social work degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california doctor’s degree social work students whose families make $0-$30k list, UC Berkeley has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Berkeley are $29,347, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Social Work at University of California - Berkeley

#2

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

#3 in overall quality

$28,131 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$76,460 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

UCLA also took the #3 spot in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Los Angeles are $28,131, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full University of California - Los Angeles Social Work Report

#3

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$48,715 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Southern California. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Southern California is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 152 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Southern California are $48,715, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Social Work at USC

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work (Income $0-$30k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Army Medicine.

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