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2024 Best Social Work Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

67 Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
11,395 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$40,900 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a degree in social work, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #13 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 67 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for social work students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 11,395 degrees in social work during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Social Work School

Best Social Work Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region The social work program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Social Work rankings. For our Best Overall Social Work School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Social Work Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Social Work
Bachelor's Degrees in Social Work
Master's Degrees in Social Work
Doctor's Degrees in Social Work

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Social Work Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.


 

Best Schools for Social Work in the Middle Atlantic Region

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the social work degree levels they offer. 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 Middle Atlantic Region Schools in Social Work

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
501 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$51,895 Median Starting Salary

Columbia University in the City of New York is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in social work. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were about 501 social work students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Social Work degree recipients from Columbia University in the City of New York receive an earnings boost of around $10,995 above the average earnings of social work majors.

More information about a degree in social work from Columbia University in the City of New York

2
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
555 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$67,566 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in social work has to take a look at New York University. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #27 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 555 social work students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available. Social Work degree recipients from New York University earn a boost of about $26,666 over the typical earnings of social work graduates.

More information about a degree in social work from New York University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
417 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$50,296 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat University of Maryland - Baltimore if you wish to pursue a degree in social work. UMB is a moderately-sized public university located in the large city of Baltimore.

There were about 417 social work students who graduated with this degree at UMB in the most recent data year. Those social work students who get their degree from University of Maryland - Baltimore receive $9,396 more than the standard social work grad.

More information about a degree in social work from University of Maryland - Baltimore

4
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
180 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$61,285 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat University of Pennsylvania if you wish to pursue a degree in social work. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 180 social work students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available. Those social work students who get their degree from University of Pennsylvania make $20,385 more than the typical social work graduate.

More information about a degree in social work from University of Pennsylvania

5
Yeshiva crest
Yeshiva University
New York, NY
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
282 Social Work Degrees Awarded
24.5% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of New York, Yeshiva is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #222 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Yeshiva is a great university overall.

There were roughly 282 social work students who graduated with this degree at Yeshiva in the most recent year we have data available. Social Work degree recipients from Yeshiva University receive an earnings boost of about $8,424 over the typical income of social work graduates.

More information about a degree in social work from Yeshiva University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
784 Social Work Degrees Awarded
3.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #98 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Rutgers New Brunswick is a great university overall.

There were about 784 social work students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers New Brunswick in the most recent data year. Those social work students who get their degree from Rutgers University - New Brunswick make $8,830 more than the standard social work graduate.

More information about a degree in social work from Rutgers University - New Brunswick

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,058 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$50,196 Median Starting Salary

Fordham U is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Bronx. A Best Colleges rank of #109 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Fordham U is a great university overall.

There were about 1058 social work students who graduated with this degree at Fordham U in the most recent data year. Social Work degree recipients from Fordham University get an earnings boost of about $9,296 above the typical income of social work graduates.

More information about a degree in social work from Fordham University

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
246 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$34,833 Median Starting Salary

Pitt is a very large public university located in the large city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #79 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Pitt is a great university overall.

There were approximately 246 social work students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the social work program earn an average of $34,833 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in social work from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

9
Hunter crest
Hunter College
New York, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
661 Social Work Degrees Awarded
10.3% Growth in Graduates

Hunter is a fairly large public college located in the city of New York. This college ranks 19th out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were approximately 661 social work students who graduated with this degree at Hunter in the most recent year we have data available. Those social work students who get their degree from Hunter College earn $13,070 more than the typical social work graduate.

More information about a degree in social work from Hunter College

10
Widener crest
Widener University
Chester, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
282 Social Work Degrees Awarded
$47,338 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Chester, Widener is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 17th out of 109 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were about 282 social work students who graduated with this degree at Widener in the most recent year we have data available. Social Work degree recipients from Widener University receive an earnings boost of around $6,438 above the typical earnings of social work graduates.

More information about a degree in social work from Widener University


 

Honorable Mentions

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 Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.

Rank College Location
11 University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
12 Rutgers University - Newark Newark, NJ
13 Montclair State University Montclair, NJ
14 Rutgers University - Camden Camden, NJ
15 West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA
16 Camden County College Blackwood, NJ

Best Social Work Colleges by State

Explore the best social work schools for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Pennsylvania 334 2,217
New York 333 5,709
Maryland 279 1,072
New Jersey 273 1,856
District of Columbia 188 243
Delaware 175 100

View All Rankings >

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Social Work Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 11,247
Other Social Work 83
Child Advocacy & Policy 65

View All Social Work Concentrations >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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