If you plan on getting your doctor's degree in social work, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #45 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2022, College Factual analyzed 85 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 640 doctor's degrees in social work to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Social Work School for Your Doctor's Degree
The social work doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future.
As an aid in helping you pick the right school for you, we created our Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work ranking.
While being high in popularity does not always mean a school has a quality social work program, it is a sign that a large number of students choose the school. This may be due to it being a great value, it offering a stellar educational experience, or the subject is a major focus of the school.
We have also developed a number of other rankings to help guide you in your decision-making process.
To begin with, if this is not the degree level you are most interested in, you may want to check out one of the others noted above.
If you would prefer to limit your search to a specific state or region of the county, see our rankings by location.
On top of that, you can visit our other rankings for social work.
Most Popular Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Social Work in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the most popular colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in social work. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
12 Most Well Attended Schools for Social Work Students Working on Their Doctorate
You'll be surrounded by many like-minded peers at University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in social work. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in California.
There were approximately 152 social work students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.
Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in social work needs to take a look at Capella University. Located in the city of Minneapolis, Capella University is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This isn't the only ranking where the school placed. It's also #2 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Minnesota.
There were roughly 60 social work students who graduated with this degree at Capella University in the most recent year we have data available.
Those social work students who get their doctor's degree from Capella University earn $8,450 more than the average social work student.
You'll be surrounded by many like-minded peers at Walden University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in social work. Located in the city of Minneapolis, Walden University is a private for-profit university with a very large student population. This isn't the only ranking where the school placed. It's also #4 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Minnesota.
There were approximately 32 social work students who graduated with this degree at Walden University in the most recent data year.
You'll be surrounded by many like-minded peers at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in social work. Located in the city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a fairly large student population. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Tennessee.
There were about 25 social work individuals who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #2 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in New York.
There were approximately 18 social work students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year.
There were approximately 16 social work students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers New Brunswick in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Minnesota.
There were roughly 15 social work individuals who graduated with this degree at UST MN in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Pennsylvania.
There were about 14 social work students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in New York.
There were about 13 social work students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This isn't the only ranking where the school placed. It's also #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Illinois.
There were approximately 11 social work students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
The social work doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future.
As an aid in helping you pick the right school for you, we created our Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work ranking.
