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Best Colleges for Social Work 2026

20 schools ranked by graduate earnings — real data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Social Work graduates are well-positioned for careers across multiple industries. The rankings below are based on actual graduate earnings data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Earnings shown are median graduate earnings 4 years after graduation (or 1 year if 4-year data is unavailable), sourced from the College Scorecard.See full major data

Top 20 Social Work Programs by Graduate Earnings

#1
New York University
New York, NY
Earnings: $64,289Tuition: $60,438Accept: 9%
#2
University of Nevada-Reno
Reno, NV
Earnings: $63,320Tuition: $25,950Accept: 85%
#3
La Sierra University
Riverside, CA
Earnings: $60,961Tuition: $35,910Accept: 93%
#4
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Earnings: $60,405Tuition: $45,627Accept: 12%
#5
California State University-Long Beach
Long Beach, CA
Earnings: $59,826Tuition: $18,888Accept: 47%
#6
CUNY York College
Jamaica, NY
Earnings: $58,778Tuition: $15,308Accept: 59%
#7
Simmons University
Boston, MA
Earnings: $58,336Tuition: $45,538Accept: 66%
#8
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX
Earnings: $57,255Tuition: $57,220Accept: 43%
#9
College of Staten Island CUNY
Staten Island, NY
Earnings: $56,620Tuition: $15,440Accept: N/A
#10
San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA
Earnings: $56,474Tuition: $19,304Accept: 96%
#11
St Catherine University
Saint Paul, MN
Earnings: $55,686Tuition: $49,758Accept: 94%
#12
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
Earnings: $55,652Tuition: $26,098Accept: 96%
#13
California State University-San Bernardino
San Bernardino, CA
Earnings: $54,364Tuition: $19,555Accept: 98%
#14
University at Albany
Albany, NY
Earnings: $54,302Tuition: $28,998Accept: 70%
#15
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA
Earnings: $53,568Tuition: $41,997Accept: 43%
#16
University of Washington-Tacoma Campus
Tacoma, WA
Earnings: $53,568Tuition: $42,171Accept: 83%
#17
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Earnings: $53,310Tuition: $34,501Accept: 44%
#18
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Mahwah, NJ
Earnings: $52,763Tuition: $26,388Accept: 73%
#19
University of Maryland-Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD
Earnings: $52,571Tuition: $30,308Accept: 74%
#20
Clark Atlanta University
Atlanta, GA
Earnings: $52,521Tuition: $26,446Accept: 65%

Explore All Social Work Programs

See earnings data for all 338 schools offering Social Work, including debt figures and graduate counts.

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