2025 Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kentucky
Ranked #24 in popularity,
social work is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kentucky ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 615 bachelor's degrees in social work during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Social Work School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The social work bachelor'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
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 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 bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
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 bachelor'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 bachelor'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 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.
One Size Does Not Fit All
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kentucky list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Social Work in Kentucky
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in social work.
Top Kentucky Schools for a Bachelor's in Social Work
It's hard to beat University of Kentucky if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in social work. UK is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Lexington.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the social work program make an average of $36,312 in their early career salary.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from University of Kentucky
University of Louisville is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in social work. Located in the city of Louisville, UofL is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduation, social work bachelor's recipients typically earn around $35,257 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from University of Louisville
Eastern Kentucky University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in social work. Eastern is a large public university located in the town of Richmond.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the social work program state that they receive average early career wages of $33,575.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Eastern Kentucky University
It's hard to beat Western Kentucky University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in social work. Located in the city of Bowling Green, WKU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduating, social work bachelor's recipients generally make around $34,748 in their early careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Western Kentucky University
NKU is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Highland Heights.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the social work program make about $37,037 for their early career.
More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Northern Kentucky University