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2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in the Great Lakes Region

10 Ranked Colleges
47 Degrees Awarded
$33,000 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region

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 the Great Lakes Region” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

With 56,762 degrees handed out in 2019-2020, social work is the 8th most popular major in the United States.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 9,933 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 47 social work graduates with average earnings and debt of $74,428 and $121,375 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer a degree 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 the Great Lakes Region”.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 11 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Social Work in the Great Lakes Region

#1

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Aurora University landed the #1 spot on the list. Aurora University is a medium-sized school located in Aurora, Illinois that handed out 8 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

Aurora did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Aurora are $13,200, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Social Work at Aurora

#2 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #2 spot on the list. UW - Madison is a large school located in Madison, Wisconsin that handed out 4 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

UW - Madison did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Wisconsin - Madison are $25,523, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Social Work at University of Wisconsin - Madison

#3

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loyola University Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s social work degrees to 3 students in 2019-2020.

Loyola Chicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Loyola University Chicago are $19,154, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Social Work at Loyola University Chicago

#8 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis landed the #4 spot on the list. Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis is a large public school situated in Indianapolis, Indiana. It awarded 5 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

IUPUI also took the #8 spot in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis are $26,013.

Read full report on Social Work at Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis

#9 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. UWM is a public institution located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school has a large population, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UWM also made our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #9. Average graduate tuition and fees at UWM are $25,295, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Social Work at UWM

#3 in overall quality

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Champaign, Illinois, this large public school awarded 3 degrees to qualified doctorate’s social work students in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083.

Read more about Social Work at UIUC

#7

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan
#5 in overall quality

Michigan State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #7. This large school is located in East Lansing, Michigan, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

Michigan State also took the #5 spot in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Michigan State are $37,056.

Full Michigan State Social Work Report

#6 in overall quality

Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #8. Ohio State University - Main Campus is a large public school situated in Columbus, Ohio. It awarded 3 doctorate’s social work degrees in 2019-2020.

Ohio State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio State University - Main Campus are $37,141.

Read full report on Social Work at Ohio State University - Main Campus

#9

Wayne State University

Detroit, Michigan
#10 in overall quality

With a ranking of #9, Wayne State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Detroit, Michigan, this large public school awarded 2 degrees to qualified doctorate’s social work students in 2019-2020.

Wayne State also took the #10 spot in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Wayne State University are $37,215.

Read more about Social Work at Wayne State

#4 in overall quality

Case Western Reserve University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #10. Case Western Reserve University is located in Cleveland, Ohio and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 doctorate’s social work degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Case Western, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Case Western Reserve University are $47,958.

Read more about Social Work at Case Western

#10

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

University of Chicago did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Social Work Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #10. UChicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 11 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago also made our “Best Social Work Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Chicago are $61,548.

Read more about Social Work at University of Chicago

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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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