2023 Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k
9
Ranked Colleges
1,010
Degrees Awarded
$17,000
Avg Net Price*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Social Work is the 13th most popular major in the country with 58,326 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, social work graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $37,651 and had an average of $26,679 in loans still to pay off.
Across Virginia, there were 1,010 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $36,341 and $29,240 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in social work. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality social work programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the social work program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
One Size Does Not Fit All
The social work school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k”.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k
The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia social work students whose families make $30-$48k.
Top 9 Best Value Colleges for Social Work (Income $30-$48k) in Virginia
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Radford University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k. Radford University is a medium-sized public school situated in Radford, Virginia. It awarded 92 ’s social work degrees in 2020-2021.
Radford did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Radford University is $13,026 for virginia social work students whose families make $30-$48k.
Read more about Social Work at Radford University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Norfolk State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k. Norfolk State is located in Norfolk, Virginia and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 91 ’s social work degrees to qualified students.
Norfolk State also took the #7 spot in our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Norfolk State is $15,321 for virginia social work students whose families make $30-$48k.
Read full report on Social Work at Norfolk State University
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #3 spot on the list. VCU is located in Richmond, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 307 ’s social work degrees to qualified students.
VCU also made our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for Virginia Commonwealth University is $15,891 for virginia social work students whose families make $30-$48k.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full VCU Social Work Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend James Madison University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k list. James Madison University is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 57 ’s social work degrees to qualified students.
JMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $14,985 for virginia social work students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend James Madison University.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full James Madison University Social Work Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Mason University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k list. Fairfax, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s social work degrees to 128 students in 2020-2021.
GMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $15,979 for Virginia Social Work students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend GMU.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Social Work at GMU
Mary Baldwin University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #6. This small school is located in Staunton, Virginia, and it awarded 25 ’s social work degrees in 2020-2021.
Mary Baldwin not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $17,744 for Virginia Social Work students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Mary Baldwin University.
Full Mary Baldwin Social Work Report
Christopher Newport University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. Newport News, Virginia is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s social work degrees to 22 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our virginia social work students whose families make $30-$48k list, CNU has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CNU is $15,990 for Virginia Social Work students whose families make $30-$48k.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% 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%.
Full Christopher Newport University Social Work Report
Virginia State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. This small school is located in Petersburg, Virginia, and it awarded 35 ’s social work degrees in 2020-2021.
Virginia State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Virginia State University is $16,672 for Virginia Social Work students whose families make $30-$48k.
Read more about Social Work at Virginia State University
Liberty University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Schools in Virginia For Those Making $30-$48k list. Lynchburg, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s social work degrees to 192 students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our virginia social work students whose families make $30-$48k list, Liberty University has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Social Work Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $27,251 for Virginia Social Work students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Liberty University.
Full Liberty University Social Work Report
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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