2025 Best Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Social Work is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #42 most popular doctor's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 2 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of social work. Combined, these schools handed out 64 doctor's degrees in social work to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on social work students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of social work students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt social work students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized social work related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for social work students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Social Work Schools

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 the Best Social Work Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Social Work in the Great Lakes Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for social work students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Doctorate in Social Work

1

Aurora University
Aurora, IL

17 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Aurora University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in social work. Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Aurora.More information about a doctorate in social work from Aurora University

2

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN

10 Annual Graduates

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in social work. IUPUI is a fairly large public university located in the city of Indianapolis.More information about a doctorate in social work from Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis

Best Social Work Colleges by State

Explore the best social work schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Illinois	153	27
Michigan	149	5
Ohio	144	10
Indiana	132	5
Wisconsin	108	9

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Social Work

Social Work is one of 0 different types of <nil> programs to choose from.

Social Work Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Social Work	64

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Army Medicine. More about our data sources and methodologies.