Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Family And School Social Workers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Harold Washington College, Wilbur Wright College, College of DuPage, and Eastern Illinois University.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider National-Louis University, Chicago State, Northeastern Illinois University, and Roosevelt University.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Saint Augustine College, Kennedy-King College, Chicago State, and Harold Washington College.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Wabash Valley College, National-Louis University, University of St Francis, and Governors State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Loyola University, and Trinity Christian College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Millikin University, MacMurray, Greenville, and Eastern Illinois University.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, and Loyola University.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Saint Xavier University, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and National-Louis University.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Millikin University, and Springfield College in Illinois.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Loyola University Chicago • Chicago, IL
Studying Social Work - Concentration In Children And Families (completion in 2011)
• 8/11/2011
"Overall, I think this was an excellent program that allowed me to learn and accomplish what I wanted to in this field. There are definitely areas in need of improvement, but I would take this program again if I could go back in the past and decide again with what I know now."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | This was an excellent school and program for people passionate about social work and interested in pursuing clinical work. It is important that individuals are self-starters and self-motivated, though, as the school does not hold your hand (nor should it). |
| Program Reputation | 10 | My school and the MSW program have excellent reputations, especially in the Chicagoland area. I know that there are some agencies that prefer to hire Loyola graduates because of the program's clinical emphasis. |
| Program Quality | 8 | I really enjoyed my MSW program and I feel like it prepared me for a clinical career in the field. There were two or three professors/courses over the 5 semesters, though, that I did not find beneficial. |
| Instruction | 9 | The program offered very challenging and relevant coursework to the field of clinical social work. Most of the courses and instructors were excellent, with wonderful elective options. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The coursework was difficult, but if you put in the work and had excellent writing abilities, then it was not too difficult to do well. This was not a program that one could easily float through without working hard, though. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Book learning was a foundation in all of my classes. Some classes did have a wonderful emphasis on hands-on learning as well, but mostly in the second year elective courses. Field work was a requirement within the program as well, so that was completely hands on outside of the classroom. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | There was good flexibility for core courses, but not so much for elective courses. There were also some courses which were only offered in Fall or Spring semesters and we had to plan our schedule accordingly. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | My school was very technologically advanced and had lots to offer in terms of resources. Classroom space was also ample, other than a few classrooms with temperature issues. |
| Social Life | 3 | There were some School of Social Work events, but for the most part that was not a focus of the program. All of my socializing was arranged personally with people I met in the program. Athletics were mostly relevant to undergraduates. |
| Placement Services | 3 | I have been disappointed with the career services at my school. Although there were promises of lots of assistance with job placement, I have not found this to be the case. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | I graduated recently, so time will tell the extent of the alumni support in the future. For now, though, I haven't received any incredible benefits. |
Shawnee Community College • Ullin, IL
Studying Psychology (completion in 2007)
• 9/19/2011
"I am very satisfied with my education at Shawnee Community. The price, location, and the faculty and facility itself made for a productive learning environment that encouraged learning and discussion of ideas and practical applications for the social work field."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I would definitely recommend Shawnee Community to anyone pursuing a career in psychology or social work related fields. Not only is it a valuable education, but if one were to decide to pursue a higher degree, it is a valuable tool and a solid background to complete studies and be successful with clients. |
| Program Reputation | 9 | The program is very highly regarded in the Southern Illinois area. Very prestigious and qualified instruction, as well as percentage of graduates with jobs or pursuing a higher degree of education in social work or psychology. |
| Program Quality | 10 | The educational program I attended was very informative. The staff was more than willing to provide any and all information they to help. |
| Instruction | 10 | The instructors were great about giving relevant information, and tips on how to handle client relations, and difficult situations. They gave us knowledge and helpful advice that they had encountered from experience. |
| How Difficult | 8 | The program itself was very time consuming and required time outside of the classroom to understand ideas, study, and develop the student's style of counseling. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The classroom experience consisted of reading material and discussing ideas, as well as role-play scenarios so that the graduate would be prepared to go out into the workforce and handle clients with some experience rather than only book-related studies. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | The school made sure that the schedule was flexible enough to give students options as to when they would like to take the classes. There were extension centers in most of the surrounding cities, as well as classes offered at all centers all seasons and day and night as well. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | The college provided many resources, an extensive library and online subscription databases that held scientific and psychology-related research studies and theses free of charge to the students and surrounding citizens such as EBSCO host. |
| Social Life | 5 | The college focused primarily on academics, though there were school teams and events. The main focus on campus was taking pride in academic programs. |
| Placement Services | 1 | The school itself does not provide job placement services, which I think would be beneficial to graduates. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | The school could provide more assistance as far as networking, they do not offer job training or assistance finding jobs, or alumni contacts. I think it would be helpful if the school would provide more networking resources for graduates. |
Aurora University • Aurora, IL
Studying Social Work (completion in 2007)
• 9/25/2011
"I was unsatisfied mostly with the amount of money I paid and the education I got for that money. It wasn't a hard program, but I wanted more out of it."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | It really depends on what they're looking for, as far as type of school. If they just want it to be easy, it's a good program. However, if they're looking for a great educational program, Aurora would not be the choice for them. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I think Aurora has a good/fair track record in Social Work. They are not the leaders in the field, but certainly not the worst. |
| Program Quality | 5 | I felt that Aurora only taught me a small amount, and the majority of my learning came as a result of actually being in the workforce. Aurora was very expensive, and I don't feel that it was worth the amount of money I paid. |
| Instruction | 5 | The majority of the professors were very kind. However, I felt that a great deal of class time was wasted talking about things that didn't matter to our work. The instructors were somewhat experienced, but only a few were still in the field. |
| How Difficult | 4 | We wrote many papers and did many projects. I was expecting a Master's level course to be more challenging than it was. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Almost entirely book-based. Minimal actual hands-on experience, except for our internships. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | The options were to take the classes one day a week or on a Saturday, but the location was further away. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Classroom space was great. The media and computer resources were fantastic as well. |
| Social Life | 5 | I cannot truly answer this, as I was not a student living on campus. I came there once a week, went to my four classes, and left. So, I was not a big part of the social scene there. |
| Placement Services | 6 | They email out job descriptions, but I did not find them helpful when I went to get a job. I did that work myself. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | I remain on the email list for my school. There are constant offers of jobs and networking events, which is great. |
University Of Illinois • Chicago, IL
Studying Applied Psychology (completion in 2010)
• 1/18/2012
"I am fairly satisfied with my college experience and would recommend this school for any potential social workers or therapists. I would have liked a little more in depth work that at the same time was a little more applicable to other areas of life. I am planning to pursue a higher degree in the future."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | The school provides a good hands on education and training experience. Anyone looking to help others as a social worker or a therapist would benefit from the programs at U of I, and they would have no trouble finding a job directly after. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | I believe the school has a great reputation for psychology and social work related programs. I know many people who went to the same school and were very satisfied with their career accomplishments, and this was one reason I decided on the curriculum. The school has a reputation for producing a high volume of social workers and psychology workers. |
| Program Quality | 8 | The program was over all a good program. It encompassed direct interviewing and controlled behavioral lab setting experiments. Although the class sizes were very big and sometimes the time schedule hectic, teachers for the most part would take time out to go over things with their students. |
| Instruction | 7 | The instruction was OK, but it certainly was not better than the applied aspect of my curriculum, wherein we went out on our own and conducted research. To this day I do not think that the instruction was all that demanding. For example, it did not take long at all to prepare for class in order to receive a good grade. It seems like the relevance of the instruction can function for long periods, but things are constantly fluctuating and new studies are being conducted. It is, after all, tentative. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The work load was overall not that great. It seems my junior year in the curriculum was much more demanding than my senior year, for example. The academic challenge was standard, something one would expect from a public university. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | By the time we went into our sophomore year, it seemed as though everything became hands on. This was a great learning experience as we got to learn from our mistakes in a real life fashion. There were laboratories which the teachers rarely partook in, and there were interviewing and debriefing sessions when the teachers were not even present except to give you an overall ending score. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | The class schedule flexibility was very good in the beginning. Once we got to senior year the schedule quickly became tight. For example, I had to wait a whole two semesters before I was able to sign up for a required course since on the first open day one could sign up, the course was already full. There were only two teachers teaching this course with a high volume of students. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | The facilities were generally very pleasing. I still use the wonderful library which has many books one cannot find elsewhere. The media and computer resources were always open to students, albeit sometimes one had to wait 15 minutes to use them! Professors always found time to meet with students and help them in any areas pertaining to studying, intellectual growth, or job placement. Classroom space was limited, but that did not drastically alter the overall learning experience. After all, it was a big school. The only thing that could have been much better was the availability of academic advisers. One could not just go in and talk to an adviser, one had to make an appointment that would usually entail sitting around and waiting for an hour. The advisers did not seem all that interested in the students' outcomes, and, at least whenever I went in, seemed to rush through meetings in order to move on to the next student. |
| Social Life | 5 | The "spirit" was so-so. I met a lot of friends who to this day meet for drinks and talk. There were certain nice school functions such as hot-dog rallies and field days, and at least the basketball "spirit" was high. But nothing you wouldn't expect from any other school, and certainly nothing compared to my high-school spirit! It was an urban setting. |
| Placement Services | 10 | As I said above, job placement and career services were fabulous at this school. All one had to do was go out and take advantage of them. The teachers were more than willing to write recommendations and see you through any job or career searches. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | The support for getting your career on track was excellent. There were many different opportunities to find a job and many helpful people to get you started. I am not sure about the alumni network. The only thing I have done with this is contribute some money when a donation pamphlet came in the mail. |
Illinois State University • Normal, IL
Studying Social Work (completion in 2010)
• 1/19/2012
"On the whole I had a good experience and was able to get a job in my field. The in-state tuition is pretty low, so you can get a degree without a ton of debt."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I am proof that you can turn something you enjoy - counseling and advising people - into a job by using the bachelor's degree in social work. ISU gave me enough knowledge to get started and I felt I had a leg up on people from really tiny schools. At the same time, I am a little frustrated that I feel I need to get a master's to advance. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | As I said, I think the reputation for human services is strong overall at ISU. I believe that UIC has the best reputation in Illinois for social work, but ISU is probably second best. |
| Program Quality | 8 | ISU has a very good reputation in education, so some of that same expertise crosses over into the realm of social work and human services. Although lots of students drop out, most of the people who graduate are pretty capable. |
| Instruction | 7 | Most of the classes were theoretical, but they managed to include enough practical experiences that I felt prepared for clinical settings. They also did a good job of bringing in practitioners to talk to us and using some adjunct faculty who had actually worked in social service agencies. |
| How Difficult | 6 | It is definitely easier than science and business majors, but there is adequate challenge, especially in the senior-level courses. If you read and attend class, you will absorb most of what you need to know, and internships and practicums give you a place to apply it. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | It was pretty book oriented until midway through my junior year, when we began to talk more about clinical work. Before that it was a lot of basic psychology and sociology courses and other things to get you ready for advanced topics. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | I was a full time regular undergrad, so I didn't feel the need for a ton of flexibility. But I know you could take mostly night classes and some online classes to work around a day job. I would not recommend online courses, however. |
| Academic Facilities | 4 | Because it is a big state school but not a wealthy one, the facilities are adequate but feel a little bit old and outdated. The librarians are knowledgeable and can get you what you need for research. |
| Social Life | 8 | Even though some people go home every weekend, enough people stay in the Bloomington/Normal area that it still feels like a college town. The basketball games are fun to attend. Most of the parties are house parties or frat parties because they crack down on partying in the dorms. |
| Placement Services | 7 | If you take advantage of it, they actually have practice interviews and lots of job listings. The drawback is that they focus more on business and on teachers, so everyone else is sort of secondary. The alumni connections program helped make up for this. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | I got my job in part because my supervisor had graduated from ISU. The career services office had a special program that connected us with alumni, many of whom live in Chicago. |
University Of Chicago • Chicago, IL
Studying Social Service Administration (completion in 1986)
• 2/5/2012
"I have benefited immensely from the intensity of the training as well as the grounding in theory. I wouldn't trade my training there for a more clinical program, even though at times I have wished for more clinical experience."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | Not everyone is interested in or suited for this orientation to social work training. However, for those people who are, it's a wonderful choice of schools. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | I can't claim to really keep up with this. However, it does seem that SSA at the University of Chicago still has a solid reputation, particularly for training theorists and policy-makers. |
| Program Quality | 10 | I prefer, at this point in my career, to change the world through teaching and policy-shaping, so my training has been very useful. The University of Chicago uniquely trained me for this role. |
| Instruction | 9 | The curriculum prepared me brilliantly for where I am now in my career. It prepared me slightly less well for where I was at the beginning of my career. |
| How Difficult | 10 | The University of Chicago is a world class institution, admitting only the brightest students. Therefore, the bar for student performance is set very high. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was clinical training, internships, and field placements. However, the focus for this program is always "book learning." | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | On-line classes were un-imagined when I took class. However, the school is pedagogically not set up for adult, non-traditional students. Classes are mostly during the day, on campus, and not set up for flexible scheduling. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | There is a building devoted to SSA. At the time of my attendance, the building, in spite of being designed by an architect in a wheelchair, was not handicapped accessible. Presumably that has changed by now. |
| Social Life | 4 | The University of Chicago takes some pride in NOT having this sort of activity as a priority. Academics should always be the priority, is the explicit message. |
| Placement Services | 8 | I don't have anything against which to compare the services. They seemed adequate and helpful, but not exceptional. Remember, though, that my experiences were quite a while ago. |
| Alumni Network | 9 | I routinely receive notice of alumni events and ongoing continuing education opportunities. These opportunities, while consistently useful, do not seem extraordinary in any particular way. |
Northwestern University • Evanston, IL
Studying Marriage And Family Therapy (completion in 2011)
• 4/11/2012
"I was largely satisfied with the clinical and academic training. Points are lost for poor administration of the program."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I would recommend it to someone who had lots of money. It was a very expensive degree and loans are tough to pay back. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | The school is prestigious at the university level and at the specific program level. Additional post graduate work is very available to graduates. |
| Program Quality | 8 | The program did an excellent job of preparing me not just to do therapy, but also for the incidental parts of the job. Additionally, self care was an important part of the curriculum, and means a lot to me. |
| Instruction | 10 | The program was extremely good in terms of content taught, and manner in which it was taught. Content was very highly relevant to actual practice. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The program was not especially challenging in terms of academic requirements. It was especially difficult in terms of emotional development. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The program focused on clinical training. Book learning was involved toward the beginning, but the majority of the program focused on hands-on clinical training. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | There was virtually no schedule flexibility. Pregnancy was pretty much the only acceptable excuse for missing time. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The specific program did not have the most resources, but the university had great resources. The specific program did have very nice office space. |
| Social Life | 3 | My experience of the school was very academically focused. There was a strong spirit of camaraderie in the program. |
| Placement Services | 3 | In the city there are not enough jobs to support graduates, and contacts are limited outside of the city. Despite these things, the program does its best to help. |
| Alumni Network | 4 | Alumni support has been fair, but not great. Reaching out has been minimal, but there have been several events in the area. |
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