2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California” 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 doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 160 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the social work program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Social Work Schools

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 for a Doctorate in California”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 for a Doctorate in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#2 in overall quality

$29,347 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California list. UC Berkeley is a public institution located in Berkeley, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #2 spot in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Berkeley are $29,347, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UC Berkeley Social Work Report

#2

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

#3 in overall quality

$28,131 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$76,460 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

UCLA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UCLA are $28,131, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Social Work at UCLA

#3

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$48,715 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the #3 spot on the list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s social work degrees to 152 students in 2019-2020.

USC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at USC are $48,715, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Social Work at USC

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Army Medicine.

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