by our College Data Analytics Team
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.
In 2021-2022, 58,923 people earned their degree in social work, making the major the 13th most popular in the United States. In , social work graduates who were awarded their degree in , earned an average of $37,585 and had an average of $29,565 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Great Lakes region, there were 10,057 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,369 and $28,472 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 44 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $74,470 and $126,402 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking looked at 12 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in social work. That schools that top this list have a program in social work in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.
For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region”.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Aurora University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region list. This medium-sized school is located in Aurora, Illinois, and it awarded 9 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Out of the 12 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Case Western Reserve University landed the #2 spot on the list. Case Western Reserve University is located in Cleveland, Ohio and, has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 6 doctorate’s social work degrees to qualified students.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Out of the 12 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Loyola University Chicago landed the #3 spot on the list. Loyola University Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 4 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%.
Out of the 12 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 9 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s social work students in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 99%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, this large public school handed out 2 degrees to qualified doctorate’s social work students in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Social Work at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis
University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This large school is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #7, University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s social work degrees to 3 students in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #8, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Columbus, Ohio, this large public school awarded 4 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s social work students in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
Wayne State University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #9. Located in Detroit, Michigan, this large public school handed out 1 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s social work students in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #10, Michigan State University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Michigan State is a large public school situated in East Lansing, Michigan. It awarded 78 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2021-2022.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
With a ranking of #11, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 2 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee landed the #12 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Social Work Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee is a large public school situated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It awarded 1 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
