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2022 Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work

84 Colleges in the United States
640 Doctor's Degrees
Social Work is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #44 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 84 colleges and universities when compiling its 2022 Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 640 doctor's degrees in social work during the 2019-2020 academic year.

What's on this page: * Other Rankings

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

Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work Your choice of school for getting your doctor's degree in social work matters. As an aid in helping you pick the right school for you, we created our Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work ranking.

Being popular does not always equate to overall quality, but a school with a large number of social work students usually has them for a reason. This may be due to it being a great value, it offering a stellar educational experience, or the subject is a major focus of the school.

More Ways to Rank Social Work Schools

Associate Degrees in Social Work
Bachelor's Degrees in Social Work
Master's Degrees in Social Work
Overall Popularity in Social Work

We have also developed a number of other rankings to help guide you in your decision-making process. To begin with, if this is not the degree level you are most interested in, you may want to check out one of the others noted above. If you would prefer to limit your search to a specific state or region of the county, see our rankings by location. Plus, you can view our other rankings for social work.

Below you'll see a list of the most popular colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor'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.

12 Most Well Attended Schools for Social Work Students Working on Their Doctorate

1
152 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In CA
#1 Best Quality In CA

University of Southern California is one of the most popular schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in social work. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in California.

There were about 152 social work students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

More information about a doctorate in social work from University of Southern California

2
Capella University crest
Capella University
Minneapolis, MN
60 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In MN
#2 Best Quality In MN

You'll be surrounded by many like-minded peers at Capella University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in social work. Capella University is a very large private for-profit university located in the large city of Minneapolis. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #2 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Minnesota.

There were roughly 60 social work individuals who graduated with this degree at Capella University in the most recent data year.

More information about a doctorate in social work from Capella University

3
Walden University crest
Walden University
Minneapolis, MN
32 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#2 Most Popular In MN
#4 Best Quality In MN

Walden University is one of the most popular schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in social work. Walden University is a very large private for-profit university located in the large city of Minneapolis. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #4 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Minnesota.

There were approximately 32 social work individuals who graduated with this degree at Walden University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a doctorate in social work from Walden University

4
25 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In TN
#1 Best Quality In TN

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is one of the most popular schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in social work. UT Knoxville is a fairly large public university located in the city of Knoxville. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Tennessee.

There were approximately 25 social work individuals who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a doctorate in social work from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

5
18 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In NY
#2 Best Quality In NY

NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #2 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in New York.

There were approximately 18 social work individuals who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available.

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

6
16 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In NJ
#1 Best Quality In NJ

Located in the small city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public university with a fairly large student population. This isn't the only ranking where the school placed. It's also #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in New Jersey.

There were roughly 16 social work students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers New Brunswick in the most recent year we have data available.

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

6
16 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In LA
#1 Best Quality In LA

Located in the large city of New Orleans, Tulane is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Louisiana.

There were approximately 16 social work individuals who graduated with this degree at Tulane in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a doctorate in social work from Tulane University of Louisiana

8
15 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#3 Most Popular In MN
#1 Best Quality In MN

UST MN is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Saint Paul. This isn't the only ranking where the school placed. It's also #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Minnesota.

There were roughly 15 social work students who graduated with this degree at UST MN in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a doctorate in social work from University of St Thomas Minnesota

9
14 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In PA
#1 Best Quality In PA

UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. Potential students might also be interested to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Pennsylvania.

There were approximately 14 social work students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.

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

10
13 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#2 Most Popular In NY
#1 Best Quality In NY

Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. This isn't the only ranking where the school placed. It's also #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in New York.

There were about 13 social work students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

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

11
11 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In IL
#1 Best Quality In IL

UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. You also may be intersted to know that the school ranks #1 in quality for doctor's degrees in social work in Illinois.

There were approximately 11 social work students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a doctorate in social work from University of Chicago

11
11 Annual Doctor's Degrees
#1 Most Popular In DC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

CUA is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.

There were about 11 social work students who graduated with this degree at CUA in the most recent data year.

More information about a doctorate in social work from Catholic University of America

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 Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work award.

RankCollegeLocation
13The Graduate Center, CUNYNew York, NY
13Washington University in St LouisSaint Louis, MO
13University of Maryland - BaltimoreBaltimore, MD
16Aurora UniversityAurora, IL
16University of GeorgiaAthens, GA
16University at AlbanyAlbany, NY
16Stony Brook UniversityStony Brook, NY
16Widener UniversityChester, PA
21Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
21University of LouisvilleLouisville, KY

Social Work by Region

View the Most Popular Doctor's Degree Colleges for Social Work for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Social Work is one of 2 different types of Social Work programs to choose from.

Notes and References

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