Ranked #3 in popularity, social work is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 65 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 6,325 master's degrees in social work to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Social Work School for Your Master's Degree
The social work master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality social work program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
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 master'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 easy is it for social work to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized social work related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for social work students working on their master's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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ADBLOCK #171
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Social Work in the Southeast Region
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for social work students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
13 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Master's in Social Work
It's difficult to beat University of Kentucky if you want to pursue a master's degree in social work. Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the social work program at University of Kentucky get $2,610 above the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Virginia Commonwealth University is a wonderful option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in social work. VCU is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Richmond.
Social Work master's degree recipients from Virginia Commonwealth University receive an earnings boost of approximately $4,834 above the average earnings of social work majors.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in social work. Located in the small city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a very large student population.
Those social work students who get their master's degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill make $2,789 more than the standard social work grad.
It's hard to beat The University of Tennessee - Knoxville if you wish to pursue a master's degree in social work. UT Knoxville is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Knoxville.
Master's students who receive their degree from the social work program make around $46,667 for their early career.
Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a very large student population.
Social Work master's degree recipients from George Mason University receive an earnings boost of around $15,917 over the typical income of social work majors.
Located in the city of Tampa, USF Tampa is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those social work students who get their master's degree from University of South Florida - Main Campus earn $3,625 more than the average social work grad.
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Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Social Work students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Best Social Work Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region award.
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).
The social work master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality social work program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
