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 IUPUI, Indiana University, Ball State, and University of Southern Indiana.
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 IU South Bend, IU East, Indiana University, and IPFW.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Saint Mary's College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Vincennes University.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider IU East, Grace College and Theological Seminary, University of Indianapolis, and Indiana State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Saint Mary's College, Taylor University, Valparaiso, and Goshen.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Goshen, Manchester, Saint Mary's College, and Huntington.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Indiana University, Butler, Taylor University, and Saint Mary's College.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at University of Saint Francis-Ft Wayne.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Butler, Saint Mary's College, Goshen, and University of Saint Francis-Ft Wayne.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
Sort Reviews By:Sorting by: • Show All Details • Hide All Details
Purdue University • West Lafayette, IN
Studying Sociology (completion in 2004)
• 9/16/2011
"I was very satisfied with my experience at Purdue. I loved my time there, appreciated my professors, and made great friendships that are still going strong to this day."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Although Purdue is not a Liberal Arts school, it is an excellent place to learn. There is a lot of support for the students there to succeed. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | I don't think there is any reputation, as the Social Sciences at Purdue are not a highlight. It isn't the best, but it's far from the worst. |
| Program Quality | 6 | Purdue is a science and engineering school, one of the best in the country. The Liberal Arts program is fair, but suffers from a lack of funding. |
| Instruction | 9 | Although Purdue is not known for Sociology, the instructors and professors I had were excellent and knowledgeable. |
| How Difficult | 7 | Up until my Senior year, the work load was fairly light. In my final year I had several bi-level courses to take (including theory and statistics) in addition to an independent research project. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Most of the classes were fairly hands-on. Occasionally a professor would stick to the textbooks fairly closely. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | With general education classes, there were many options for class schedules. Once in the higher level classes, there are fewer offerings so the student is forced to work around the schedule available. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | Although the social sciences building was in desperate need of renovation, the social sciences library was phenomenal. During my tenure at Purdue, the library underwent a massive renovation making it more conducive to learning and studying. Also, the computer labs were state of the art. |
| Social Life | 10 | Purdue is known for its school spirit. Athletics, especially basketball, are a way of life. All of the students and alumni band together for these sporting events. The marching and pep bands are also important to the university. |
| Placement Services | 10 | Purdue's career services center is excellent. They offer extensive job placement assistance for current students as well as alumni. You can find job postings, post your resume with their service, and get resume building help. |
| Alumni Network | 10 | Purdue prides itself on an extensive alumni association. There are regional and local chapters of the Alumni Association in many parts of the U.S. Alumni can get help with job searches, resume building, etc. |
Indiana University At Indianapolis • Indianapolis, IN
Studying Social Work (completion in 1998)
• 11/3/2011
"I wish I had been given more practical knowledge about the earning potential and lack of upward mobility in the social work profession. Social Work as a profession should be inclusive of higher paying positions in the real world of work."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I feel that my education as a Master's Degree Social Worker was too expensive in comparison to the salary I earn. I am in deep debt that will take decades to pay and I still need more education to obtain the salary to pay off my education. I don't think that is fair! |
| Program Reputation | 5 | Indiana University is known for the School of Social Work as a community school that helps and reaches out to the city. But, with child abuse, domestic and family abuse being very high, statistically speaking, our School of Social Work needs to do more. |
| Program Quality | 3 | The Social Work Program should be more realistic and honest about the earning potential. There should be more real world work experience attached to the practicums for students that allow a choice of specialization based on future earnings potential. |
| Instruction | 3 | Students need more contact with actual practicing social workers in the community at-large. Broader contacts and immersion make students more knowledgeable in the field. |
| How Difficult | 9 | The extreme reading load, math and statistical requirements, and difficulty of grant writing projects made the course work stressful and frustrating for working adults returning to school. This also caused suicides and serious health issues that the school personnel did not catch or address in time. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There were opportunities for us as students to lead class instructions and role play events. We had lots of reading assignments with discussion and tests over reading materials. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 5 | I was able to attend evening and part time classes for the Master's Degree Program at the School of Social Work. The flexibility was comparable to other schools during the same period. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | Access to libraries, mentoring, media and computer support, advisors, and professors were all provided as needed. This accommodation was sufficient and my disability was well addressed with support. |
| Social Life | 5 | As an adult student that worked and had a family, I had no time for the social activities at my university. There were pep rallies and student union meetings that I attended on one or two occasions. |
| Placement Services | 3 | I will admit that I get employment alerts on a fairly regular basis via email. But, active placement assistance has never been forthcoming and I have not gotten any significant connections to jobs through the career and placement center at the university. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I belong to the School of Social Work Alumni Association, but have yet to benefit from it. The connections, networking, and leveraging of relationships is non-existent for me. |
Taylor University • Upland, IN
Studying Elementary Education (completion in 2007)
• 4/10/2012
"I felt like I got a great education at Taylor. My one complaint would be in the area of job placement. Other than that, I would recommend a Taylor education to anybody."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I would not recommend anyone to get a teaching degree right now because jobs are so scarce. However, I would recommend Taylor because they have a wonderful program. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | It is known around the state that Taylor University graduates with an education major are well prepared for running their own classrooms. Taylor grads are provided with a well-rounded education. |
| Program Quality | 8 | Taylor University has a great education program. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of teaching jobs in the area and I feel like Taylor wasn't very honest in preparing students for competing for teaching jobs. |
| Instruction | 10 | Taylor provided me with a great education. The professors are very knowledgeable in their subject areas. |
| How Difficult | 7 | Being an education major was somewhat challenging. Not only did you have to become an expert in what you were teaching, but you also had to learn various teaching techniques to fit every learning style. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Taylor had a great mix of book learning and hands on learning. I feel like this is what contributes to a well-rounded education. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | Taylor provided a lot of online classes and also offered many classes at different times. I never had problems with scheduling conflicts. |
| Academic Facilities | 10 | Taylor University has a wide variety of resources that students have access to. Not only do they have a wonderful library with many resources but the professors also shared access to many other forms of technology and materials for students to use. |
| Social Life | 7 | Many students have a wonderful social experience at Taylor. I was not very social because I commuted to school and did not have the time to bond with other students on campus. |
| Placement Services | 4 | I think this is the area that Taylor lacks in. I feel like this is the one area where Taylor did not prepare me. There was no job placement and I could not find a teaching job on my own. This is why I switched career fields and now work in Social Services. |
| Alumni Network | 8 | Taylor University relies heavily on their alumni to help with scholarships and other programs. It has a very strong alumni network. |
Online Course Finder
Find the path to your
education in 3 easy steps.