2025 Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois
Social Work is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #24 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual reviewed 14 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of social work. Combined, these schools handed out 751 bachelor's degrees in social work to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Social Work School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of social work for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality social work program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 bachelor'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 bachelor'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 bachelor's degree.
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 the Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Social Work in Illinois
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in social work.
10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Social Work
Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in social work has to look into University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the social work program report average early career wages of $36,815.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
It is difficult to beat Loyola University Chicago if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in social work. Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Loyola University Chicago
It is hard to beat Aurora University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in social work. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Aurora.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the social work program make around $38,382 for their early career.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Aurora University
Illinois State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in social work. Illinois State is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the social work program report average early career earnings of $39,041.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Illinois State University
Located in the large city of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the social work program state that they receive average early career wages of $39,178.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Northeastern Illinois University