2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in California (With Aid)
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2019-2020, 57,618 people earned their degree in social work, making the major the 12th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, social work graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $36,459 and had an average of $30,084 in loans still to pay off.
Across California, there were 4,949 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $45,770 and $31,817 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 1,465 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 18 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in social work. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great social work programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the social work program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.
Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid
The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
Top 18 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in California (With Aid)
Out of the 18 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Los Angeles landed the #1 spot on the list. California State University - Los Angeles is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 224 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
Cal State LA also made our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #5. The yearly cost to attend Cal State LA is $2,768 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
The low student loan default rate of 1.4% 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%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Fresno. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Fresno State is a large school located in Fresno, California that handed out 119 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Fresno State, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Fresno State is $5,464 for California Bachelor’s Degree Social Work students with aid.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The low student loan default rate of 4.7% 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%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Bernardino. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. This fairly large school is located in San Bernardino, California, and it awarded 52 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
CSUSB also made our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #11. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - San Bernardino is $7,342 for California Bachelor’s Degree Social Work students with aid.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Read full report on Social Work at California State University - San Bernardino
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Located in Long Beach, California, this large public school handed out 69 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s social work students in 2019-2020.
CSULB did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for CSULB is $9,622 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
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 student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Out of the 18 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #5 spot on the list. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s social work degrees to 90 students in 2019-2020.
UC Berkeley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for UC Berkeley is $15,329 for California Bachelor’s Degree Social Work students with aid.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Read full report on Social Work at University of California - Berkeley
California State University - Sacramento landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. Sac State is a large school located in Sacramento, California that handed out 244 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
Sac State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Sacramento is $9,979 for California Bachelor’s Degree Social Work students with aid.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
San Diego State University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. San Diego State University is a large public school situated in San Diego, California. It awarded 106 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
SDSU also made our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for SDSU is $14,788 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
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 student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
San Francisco State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. Located in San Francisco, California, this large public school awarded 23 degrees to qualified bachelors’s social work students in 2019-2020.
SFSU also made our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $15,113 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid per year to attend SFSU.
Read more about Social Work at San Francisco State University
San Jose State University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. San Jose State University is located in San Jose, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 77 bachelors’s social work degrees to qualified students.
San Jose State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for San Jose State University is $14,928 for California Bachelor’s Degree Social Work students with aid.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
California State University - East Bay did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #10. Cal State East Bay is a public institution located in Hayward, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Cal State East Bay also made our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #15. The yearly cost to attend California State University - East Bay is $11,116 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
Read more about Social Work at California State University - East Bay
With a ranking of #11, California State University - Chico did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. California State University - Chico is a fairly large public school situated in Chico, California. It awarded 74 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid list, Chico State has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $15,017 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid per year to attend California State University - Chico.
The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%.
Humboldt State University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Arcata, California, this medium-sized public school handed out 52 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s social work students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Humboldt State University, the school also landed the #18 spot in our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Humboldt State University is $14,692 for California Bachelor’s Degree Social Work students with aid.
With a ranking of #13, Fresno Pacific University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Fresno Pacific University is a small school located in Fresno, California that handed out 79 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
Fresno Pacific also took the #13 spot in our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Fresno Pacific University is $16,356 for California Bachelor’s Degree Social Work students with aid.
Brandman University landed the #14 spot on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. Brandman is a fairly large school located in Irvine, California that handed out 123 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
Brandman also made our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Brandman University is $21,604 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
La Sierra University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. La Sierra is located in Riverside, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 17 bachelors’s social work degrees to qualified students.
La Sierra did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #12 on our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $24,046 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid per year to attend La Sierra.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #16. Mount Saint Mary’s University is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 22 bachelors’s social work degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at MSMU, the school also landed the #17 spot in our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for MSMU is $29,214 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Whittier College landed the #17 spot on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. Whittier, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s social work degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.
Whittier not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #16 on our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Whittier is $24,570 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #18, Azusa Pacific University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized school located in Azusa, California that handed out 48 bachelors’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Azusa Pacific, the school also landed the #14 spot in our “Best Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $26,293 for california bachelor’s degree social work students with aid per year to attend Azusa Pacific University.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%.
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work (With Aid)
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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
Footnotes
- *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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