Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Work Degrees

Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Work Degrees

By James Barham

Published: Nov 9, 2021
Updated: Mar 13, 2023

The best social work liberal arts colleges are those with rich histories of influence, proven through the work produced by the program’s faculty and alumni. Beyond demonstrating scholarly impact in the field, the best social work degree programs maximize your opportunities to interact with outstanding social work faculty.

Top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges Social Work Programs

55%

San Francisco State University

51%

Tuskegee University

47%

University of Portland

42%

California State University, Long Beach

42%

Earlham College

42%

Southern University

39%

38%

Ashland University

38%

Shaw University

35%

Alliance University

100%

Alabama State University

98%

Virginia Union University

94%

San Francisco State University

93%

92%

Niagara University

92%

Salem State University

90%

Norfolk State University

89%

South Carolina State University

88%

Minot State University

88%

California State University, Long Beach

24 to 1

Southern University

22 to 1

San Francisco State University

22 to 1

Virginia Union University

21 to 1

Savannah State University

18 to 1

Southern University at New Orleans

17 to 1

Ashland University

16 to 1

Alliance University

16 to 1

Norfolk State University

16 to 1

15 to 1

Skidmore College

$60,302

University of Portland

$49,864

Earlham College

$49,323

$43,140

Meredith College

$41,224

Abilene Christian University

$39,350

$36,650

Niagara University

$35,980

$35,268

Alliance University

$26,500

Abilene Christian University

$24,174

University of Portland

$23,868

Earlham College

$20,533

Tuskegee University

$20,378

Alliance University

$14,000

Niagara University

$13,950

Meredith College

$13,194

$12,960

Virginia Union University

$11,275

$11,090

Alliance University

16%

Southern University at New Orleans

24%

27%

Minot State University

29%

Savannah State University

29%

29%

Norfolk State University

30%

Salem State University

31%

South Carolina State University

31%

Meredith College

32%

Skidmore College

31%

Tuskegee University

34%

46%

Savannah State University

46%

California State University, Long Beach

47%

Southern University

59%

Shaw University

65%

Earlham College

69%

Ashland University

70%

Meredith College

70%

Earlham College

8 to 1

Skidmore College

8 to 1

11 to 1

Minot State University

11 to 1

Tuskegee University

11 to 1

11 to 1

University of Portland

11 to 1

Niagara University

11 to 1

Meredith College

11 to 1

12 to 1

Salem State University

$910

Savannah State University

$4,064

Southern University at New Orleans

$4,483

Southern University

$4,973

California State University, Long Beach

$5,742

San Francisco State University

$5,742

Norfolk State University

$5,752

$6,930

Minot State University

$8,164

Alabama State University

$8,328

Salem State University

$2,520

Savannah State University

$3,588

Southern University

$5,336

Southern University at New Orleans

$6,024

Ashland University

$6,972

California State University, Long Beach

$7,176

San Francisco State University

$7,176

Alabama State University

$7,416

$8,820

Norfolk State University

$8,820

Key Takeaways

A social work degree program leads you a career that focuses on helping society.
As a general rule, social workers assist people with everyday problems in roles like school administrators, child welfare and human service workers, and addiction treatment professionals.
Due to the projected growth of 9% in the coming decade, earning a social work degree can lead to an excellent career path.

A bachelor’s degree in social work is an excellent starting point for a career in counseling, case work, rehabilitation, and numerous other important areas of public health and welfare. As a social work major, you’ll learn about the administration of social services, distribution of resources for social welfare, and public outreach to vulnerable groups.

Human well-being is a primary goal of social work. As a social worker, you’ll be working closely with communities, populations, families and individuals who are facing challenge, disadvantage, and crisis. The best schools for social work are those which are regionally accredited, which offer a full array of social work concentrations, and which give you the chance to work with the best and most influential professors and classmates.

The best social work liberal arts colleges are those with rich histories of influence, proven through the work produced by the program’s faculty and alumni. Beyond demonstrating scholarly impact in the field, the best social work degree programs maximize your opportunities to interact with outstanding social work faculty.

The demand for competent social workers grows along with the population’s growth. Also, external circumstances and universal human struggles impact such demands. The social worker employment landscape is expected to grow 9 percent from 2021 to 2031, driven by the rising need for mental health and addiction services. Similarly, social workers are also in high demand in the healthcare sector.

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Social Work Bachelor’s Degrees

Related: How to Major in Social Work

Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Work Degree Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Research Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, Online Colleges

In pursuing a bachelor’s degree, you will need to choose between three kinds of schools: research universities, liberal arts colleges, and online colleges.

Research universities are colleges and universities whose faculty are active in research and publishing. Research universities offer a wide array of doctoral programs, especially in the sciences. They tend to be big, with tens of thousands of students.

Do you prefer a larger university setting, such as largest public university in your state? Research universities are typically big, offering degrees in many different disciplines. Is a big high-powered research environment the thing for you. If not, you should think about a liberal arts college. In deciding on an undergraduate institution, ask yourself what sort of environment will best help you to be happy and excel.

Consider whether you are self motivated enough to be a face in the crowd for some classes and largely unknown on campus at a large university. Of course you can find clubs and friends at a large university, but often liberal arts colleges have a more personal quality to them. If you want the community feel, a research university may not fit you well.
Are you interested in STEM fields? Research universities have that name for a reason – real research is happening there. This can create an exciting atmosphere for students interested in STEM. Attending a research university can give you a better chance of getting into better programs for graduate degrees, although a lot of that depends on your performance.

Learn more about research universities by reading about the best research universities in the US.

Often referred to as “teaching colleges” liberal arts colleges put a premium on undergraduate studies and offers a broad range of subjects for students to study. A college of liberal arts typically provides smaller class sizes, more direct engagement with professors, and, most importantly, the opportunity to sample a wide range of subject areas on the way to a bachelor’s degree.

Do you want your professors to know you? Liberal arts colleges strive to cultivate campus cultures that encourage tight bonds between professors and students. Professors at these schools will typically conduct original research. Yet the best of these schools offer their faculty reduced teaching loads so that they can both be productive researchers and still have plenty of time for students (both in and outside the classroom).
Do you want to feel like you know everybody? One of the most enticing features of a liberal arts college is that in very little time, you can feel like you know who’s who, which can create strong friendships, but also more pleasurable walks across campus. While your sports teams may never be on ESPN, it’s more likely that you’ll know the athletes as your peers. Beyond student and faculty relationships, it’s not unusual for the school president and other administrators to learn who you are. When faced with problems with your student account or the need to switch classes, this can be comforting during a stressful moment.

Learn more about liberal arts colleges by reading about the best liberal arts colleges in the US.

Online colleges are typically the same colleges and universities you could attend in-person, but for certain degree programs the college or unviersity has made the degree programs available to be completed online. For over 5 million students, online degree programs allow students to earn their degrees in the most flexible format available. Online degrees are as respected as the on-campus degress you could earn from the same schools. There’s usually no disctinction between the two degrees, and your degree and transcript will not say that the degree was earned online. Online degree programs are offered by a vast majority of colleges and universities, and the number of offering continues to grow. Whehter you are searching for an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate, there’s a good chance you can earn your degree online from a respectable online college.

Are you a self-driven student? Perhaps the hardest aspect of obtaining an online degree is whether you will be disciplined enough to manage your time and course demands. Many online students report that online college made them more disciplined in all areas of their lives, but the flexible, self-paced learning that makes online colleges attractive can often be the same qualities that make it difficult. If you tend to be a procrastinator, you need to be honest with yourself. You can change your habits and propensities, or you can throw money down the drain.
Do you need the flexibility of an online degree program? Most online students study online because of time demands balancing work and life, or becuase the online colleges afford them the chance to attend a better school without moving. If you are serious about earning your degree for career advancement, online colleges make it possible. The most flexible options among online degrees are those that are aynchronous, meaning you don’t have scheduled times to meet with your class online. However, many students seek synchronous online degree programs so that they have some structure – set meeting times, scheduled exams, etc.
The good news is that attending an online college doesn’t mean you will miss out on getting to know your professors and classmates. In fact, many online students who have experienced both online and on-campus courses report having easier access to their professors. Since most communication with your professor is expected to be in text – via email or your class learning management system – it makes asking your questions easier. The same students also report that they got to better know the thoughts of their classmates. While in-person course conversations can be dominated by a few extroverts, online courses that require online discussions make it so that you see all of your classmates’ thoughts and questions.

If you’re interested in an online bachelor’s degree, check out what the best online colleges offer, or search our online degrees for the exact program that interests you. In either case, you will find well respected colleges and universities that offer online degrees.

If you think a research university may be a better fit for you, see our ranking of the best research universities for a bachelor’s in social work.

How do we determine the best social work liberal arts colleges?

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Influence”.

The influence of a college or university is based on the schools’s top academic influencers related to the discipline in this ranking. We track the influence of faculty and alumni affiliate with these school counting not only the publications and citations of the school’s affiliated people, but we also consider the overall web presence of the faculty and alumni. The greater the citations, authority of web links, web searches, and page views, the greater the individuals’s influence. Those combined make up the departments’s influence in the field of study. We believe tracking the academic influence of the people affiliated with a school is the best indicator of academic excellence.

If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and misused performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is more insulated from manipulation, and more reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

Ranking: Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Work Bachelor’s Degree Programs

Go to all Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Work programs

Learn More About Social Work

If you want to know more about social work, then check out our related content:

Learn how to major in social work
Think about your next step and what you can do with a master’s degree in religious studies

Image Attributions

Image Source for Hunter College