Ranked #13 in popularity, social work is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 8 schools in Maryland to determine which ones were the best for social work students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,052 degrees in social work annually.
Your choice of social work school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Social Work School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Social Work Schools in Maryland list, to help you choose the best school for you.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
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.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the social work degrees they offer, see the list below.
Every student pursuing a degree in social work needs to take a look at Salisbury University. Located in the suburb of Salisbury, Salisbury is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #453 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Salisbury is a great university overall.
There were roughly 299 social work students who graduated with this degree at Salisbury in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social work degree program at Salisbury University get $2,885 above the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
University of Maryland - Baltimore County is a great decision for students interested in a degree in social work. Located in the suburb of Baltimore, UMBC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #211 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UMBC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 112 social work students who graduated with this degree at UMBC in the most recent data year. After graduating, social work degree recipients generally make an average of $40,316 at the beginning of their careers.
Morgan State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in social work. Morgan State is a medium-sized public university located in the large city of Baltimore. This university ranks 33rd out of 35 colleges for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were about 139 social work students who graduated with this degree at Morgan State in the most recent data year. Social Work degree recipients from Morgan State University receive an earnings boost of around $5,512 above the typical income of social work graduates.
It is hard to beat McDaniel College if you want to pursue a degree in social work. McDaniel is a small private not-for-profit college located in the fringe town of Westminster. A Best Colleges rank of #1178 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means McDaniel is a great college overall.
There were about 18 social work students who graduated with this degree at McDaniel in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the suburb of Bowie, Bowie State University is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 31st out of 35 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were roughly 25 social work students who graduated with this degree at Bowie State University in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, social work degree recipients typically earn about $32,989 at the beginning of their careers.
Hood is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Frederick. This college ranks 29th out of 35 colleges for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were about 10 social work students who graduated with this degree at Hood in the most recent year we have data available.
Coppin is a small public university located in the large city of Baltimore. This university ranks 34th out of 35 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were roughly 27 social work students who graduated with this degree at Coppin in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the social work program earn an average of $37,612 in their early career salary.
Frostburg State is a small public university located in the remote town of Frostburg. A Best Colleges rank of #1296 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Frostburg State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 16 social work students who graduated with this degree at Frostburg State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the social work program state that they receive average early career earnings of $37,836.
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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Army Medicine.
Your choice of social work school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Social Work School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
