2025 Best Social Work Schools in California
20
Colleges in California
4,583
Social Work Degrees Awarded
$44,119
Avg Early-Career Salary
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.
College Factual looked at 20 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Social Work Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,583 degrees in social work annually.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Social Work School
The social work program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Social Work rankings. 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.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Social Work 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 California list to help you make the college decision.
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 want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.
Best Schools for Social Work in California
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.
10 Top California Schools in Social Work
University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in social work. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 786 social work students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Those social work students who get their degree from University of Southern California earn $17,263 more than the standard social work grad.
More information about a degree in social work from University of Southern California
Every student who is interested in social work has to look into University of California - Berkeley. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were roughly 199 social work students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Those social work students who get their degree from University of California - Berkeley earn $13,592 more than the standard social work grad.
More information about a degree in social work from University of California - Berkeley
Every student who is interested in social work has to look into San Diego State University. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #185 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 214 social work students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year. Those social work students who get their degree from San Diego State University make $7,577 more than the typical social work grad.
More information about a degree in social work from San Diego State University
California State University - Long Beach is a great decision for students interested in a degree in social work. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #246 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.
There were roughly 345 social work students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent year we have data available. Social Work degree recipients from California State University - Long Beach receive an earnings boost of around $18,964 above the typical income of social work majors.
More information about a degree in social work from California State University - Long Beach
Sac State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Sacramento. A Best Colleges rank of #267 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Sac State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 290 social work students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent data year. Those social work students who get their degree from California State University - Sacramento earn $5,261 more than the typical social work grad.
More information about a degree in social work from California State University - Sacramento
CSUSB is a large public university located in the medium-sized city of San Bernardino. This university ranks 82nd out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 173 social work students who graduated with this degree at CSUSB in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social work degree program at California State University - San Bernardino earn $19,257 above the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in social work from California State University - San Bernardino
Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 87th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 367 social work students who graduated with this degree at Cal State LA in the most recent year we have data available. Those social work students who get their degree from California State University - Los Angeles make $8,758 more than the typical social work graduate.
More information about a degree in social work from California State University - Los Angeles
Cal Baptist is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Riverside. This university ranks 66th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 126 social work students who graduated with this degree at Cal Baptist in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the social work major at California Baptist University earn $18,212 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in social work from California Baptist University
CSUN is a very large public university located in the large city of Northridge. A Best Colleges rank of #350 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means CSUN is a great university overall.
There were approximately 136 social work students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social work major at California State University - Northridge make $10,962 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in social work from California State University - Northridge
Cal State Fullerton is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Fullerton. A Best Colleges rank of #271 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cal State Fullerton is a great university overall.
There were approximately 108 social work students who graduated with this degree at Cal State Fullerton in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the social work major at California State University - Fullerton get $20,048 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in social work from California State University - Fullerton
