2025 Best Social Work Schools in Illinois
17
Colleges in Illinois
2,756
Social Work Degrees Awarded
$44,119
Avg Early-Career Salary
Social Work is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #13 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual looked at 17 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Social Work Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,756 degrees in social work annually.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Social Work School
Your choice of social work school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for social work schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Social Work Rankings by Degree Level
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 Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
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.
More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.
Best Schools for Social Work in Illinois
The schools below may not offer all types of social work degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
10 Top Illinois Schools in Social Work
University of Chicago is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in social work. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were about 200 social work students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the social work program at University of Chicago get $8,432 above the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in social work from University of Chicago
Every student pursuing a degree in social work needs to check out Loyola University Chicago. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #100 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Loyola Chicago is a great university overall.
There were about 346 social work students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent data year. Social Work degree recipients from Loyola University Chicago get an earnings boost of approximately $7,715 above the typical income of social work majors.
More information about a degree in social work from Loyola University Chicago
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in social work. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 251 social work students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Those social work students who get their degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $4,664 more than the typical social work grad.
More information about a degree in social work from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
It's difficult to beat Aurora University if you want to pursue a degree in social work. Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #348 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Aurora is a great university overall.
There were roughly 766 social work students who graduated with this degree at Aurora in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social work program at Aurora University get $5,581 more than the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in social work from Aurora University
UIC is a very large public university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #254 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UIC is a great university overall.
There were about 229 social work students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social work major at University of Illinois at Chicago make $7,608 more than the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a degree in social work from University of Illinois at Chicago
Located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #210 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Illinois State is a great university overall.
There were about 78 social work students who graduated with this degree at Illinois State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the social work program make around $43,640 for their early career.
More information about a degree in social work from Illinois State University
WIU is a medium-sized public university located in the remote town of Macomb. This university ranks 37th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 22 social work students who graduated with this degree at WIU in the most recent data year. After graduation, social work degree recipients typically make around $39,641 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in social work from Western Illinois University
Northeastern Illinois University is a medium-sized public university located in the city of Chicago. This university ranks 59th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 159 social work students who graduated with this degree at Northeastern Illinois University in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the social work program earn around $40,505 for their early career.
More information about a degree in social work from Northeastern Illinois University
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
17th
Most Popular In IL
Located in the midsize city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 19th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 22 social work students who graduated with this degree at Bradley in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in social work from Bradley University
Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 31st out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 69 social work students who graduated with this degree at SIUE in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the social work program report average early career income of $43,845.
More information about a degree in social work from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
