Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Social Work

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$31,424

Avg. Earnings

6.3 yrs

Best Payback

18,831

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	St Catherine University Saint Paul, MN · Private	$15,942	$45,149	6.3 yrs
2	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV · Public	$15,106	$44,276	6.5 yrs
3	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA · Public	$9,854	$40,492	7.2 yrs
4	Minot State University Minot, ND · Public	$11,911	$41,565	7.3 yrs
5	Concordia College at Moorhead Moorhead, MN · Private	$18,992	$44,170	8.3 yrs
6	Bemidji State University Bemidji, MN · Public	$14,520	$41,937	8.4 yrs
7	CUNY York College Jamaica, NY · Public	$9,462	$39,369	8.7 yrs
8	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	$9,394	$39,271	8.8 yrs
9	Winona State University Winona, MN · Public	$15,289	$41,565	9.3 yrs
10	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$40,017	9.5 yrs
11	Viterbo University La Crosse, WI · Private	$18,070	$41,937	10.4 yrs
12	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$40,737	10.6 yrs
13	University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public	$12,985	$39,909	10.6 yrs
14	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA · Public	$16,065	$41,007	10.7 yrs
15	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY · Public	$9,270	$38,289	11.3 yrs
16	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$39,585	11.7 yrs
17	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$40,140	11.7 yrs
18	Portland State University Portland, OR · Public	$12,964	$39,369	11.9 yrs
19	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN · Public	$13,140	$39,286	12.3 yrs
20	Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, MN · Public	$12,156	$38,829	12.7 yrs
21	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA · Public	$19,623	$41,147	12.8 yrs
22	The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN · Private	$19,092	$40,896	13 yrs
23	St Olaf College Northfield, MN · Private	$15,453	$39,729	13.1 yrs
24	University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA · Public	$8,147	$37,478	13.2 yrs
25	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$37,478	13.5 yrs
26	Saint Martin's University Lacey, WA · Private	$21,034	$40,896	14.3 yrs
27	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$39,009	18.4 yrs
28	University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Green Bay, WI · Public	$13,258	$37,808	18.9 yrs
29	University of Wisconsin-Superior Superior, WI · Public	$12,668	$37,671	19 yrs
30	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND · Public	$15,818	$38,289	19.2 yrs
31	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX · Private	$33,018	$41,565	20.1 yrs
32	San Jose State University San Jose, CA · Public	$17,338	$38,289	21.1 yrs
33	Minnesota State University Moorhead Moorhead, MN · Public	$15,809	$37,964	21.3 yrs
34	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	$14,679	$37,699	21.8 yrs
35	Southern Connecticut State University New Haven, CT · Public	$21,008	$38,649	23 yrs
36	Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN · Public	$16,515	$37,748	24 yrs
37	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY · Public	$8,084	$36,218	26.5 yrs
38	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK · Public	$21,725	$37,856	30.4 yrs
39	Lamar University Beaumont, TX · Public	$13,580	$36,668	32.6 yrs
40	La Salle University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$20,975	$37,568	32.7 yrs
41	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	$16,868	$36,992	33.9 yrs
42	Salem State University Salem, MA · Public	$18,141	$37,110	34.4 yrs
43	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA · Public	$17,689	$36,992	35.5 yrs
44	Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA · Public	$18,485	$37,018	36.6 yrs
45	Regis College Weston, MA · Private	$31,701	$38,289	38.6 yrs
46	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	$15,561	$36,514	41.1 yrs
47	Lourdes University Sylvania, OH · Private	$22,205	$37,088	42.5 yrs
48	Westfield State University Westfield, MA · Public	$18,291	$36,668	43.9 yrs
49	Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ · Private	$28,313	$37,568	44.1 yrs
50	Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, NJ · Public	$22,026	$36,668	52.8 yrs

Top Earners in Social Work

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.