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2024 Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

71 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
4,501 Bachelor's Degrees
$32,002 Avg Early-Career Salary
Social Work is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #24 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 71 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,501 bachelor's degrees in social work during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Social Work School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region The social work bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for social work students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Social Work Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.


 

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Social Work in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in social work. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Social Work

1
68 Annual Graduates
$34,974 Median Starting Salary
$19,344 Median Student Debt

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in social work. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those social work students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $2,972 more than the average social work student.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2
67 Annual Graduates
$26,239 Median Starting Salary
$21,398 Median Student Debt

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in social work needs to take a look at University of Wisconsin - Madison. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the social work program state that they receive average early career wages of $26,239.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from University of Wisconsin - Madison

3
165 Annual Graduates
$30,962 Median Starting Salary
$26,970 Median Student Debt

Ohio State University - Main Campus is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in social work. Ohio State is a very large public university located in the large city of Columbus.

Soon after graduating, social work bachelor's recipients generally earn an average of $30,962 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Ohio State University - Main Campus

4
46 Annual Graduates
$21,133 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in social work has to take a look at Loyola University Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Loyola University Chicago

5
164 Annual Graduates
$33,234 Median Starting Salary
$18,410 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Indianapolis, IUPUI is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the social work program report average early career wages of $33,234.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis

6
Aurora crest
Aurora University
Aurora, IL
167 Annual Graduates
$30,727 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Soon after graduation, social work bachelor's recipients generally earn around $30,727 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Aurora University

7
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
54 Annual Graduates
$29,946 Median Starting Salary
$26,169 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the social work program state that they receive average early career wages of $29,946.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Michigan State University

8
127 Annual Graduates
$31,691 Median Starting Salary
$41,903 Median Student Debt

Located in the rural area of Marion, IWU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the social work program earn an average of $31,691 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global

9
65 Annual Graduates
$37,242 Median Starting Salary
$23,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of Eau Claire, UW - Eau Claire is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Social Work bachelor's degree recipients from University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire earn a boost of approximately $5,240 over the average income of social work graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

10
80 Annual Graduates
$33,607 Median Starting Salary
$25,912 Median Student Debt

UW - Whitewater is a fairly large public university located in the town of Whitewater.

Soon after graduating, social work bachelor's recipients typically make about $33,607 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in social work from University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Social Work Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI
12 Ball State University Muncie, IN
13 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH
14 University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH
15 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
16 Wayne State University Detroit, MI
17 Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI

Best Social Work Colleges by State

Explore the best social work schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 1,039
Ohio 252 1,135
Illinois 241 825
Indiana 235 909
Wisconsin 213 593

View All Rankings >

One of 0 majors within the <nil> area of study, Social Work has other similar majors worth exploring.

Social Work Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 4,250
Child Advocacy & Policy 221
Other Social Work 30

Notes and References

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