2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in Virginia

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Master’s in Virginia” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Social Work is the 12th most popular major in the country with 57,618 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Virginia, there were 951 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,492 and $31,406 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 349 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Master’s in Virginia” ranking looked at 4 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.

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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Social Work Schools

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 Value Social Work Schools for a Master’s in Virginia” list to help you make the college decision.

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. 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 Master’s in Virginia

The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia master’s degree social work students.

Top 4 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in Virginia

#1

Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$29,228 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$44,699 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Master’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Richmond, Virginia, and it awarded 173 masters’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia master’s degree social work students list, VCU has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at VCU are $29,228, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University

#2

George Mason University

Fairfax, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$37,410 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$51,762 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Master’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, George Mason University landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Fairfax, Virginia, this large public school awarded 87 degrees to qualified masters’s social work students in 2019-2020.

GMU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at George Mason University are $37,410, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Social Work at George Mason University

#3

Radford University

Radford, Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$21,382 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$40,089 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Master’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Radford University landed the #3 spot on the list. Radford is located in Radford, Virginia and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 47 masters’s social work degrees to qualified students.

Radford also took the #3 spot in our “Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Radford are $21,382, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Radford Social Work Report

#4

Norfolk State University

Norfolk, Virginia

#4 in overall quality

$24,742 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$45,604 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Norfolk State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Master’s in Virginia. Located in Norfolk, Virginia, this medium-sized public school handed out 42 degrees to qualified masters’s social work students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia master’s degree social work students list, Norfolk State has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Social Work Master’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Norfolk State University are $24,742, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Norfolk State University Social Work Report

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Master’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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