Social Work PhD Programs

Columbia University School of Social Work

• In 2008, "U.S. News and World Report" ranked Columbia University's graduate School of Social Work fourth in the nation. Originated in 1950, Columbia's Ph.D. program in social work is highly regarded and highly competitive. While Columbia does not require a minimum score on the GRE, the school does note that "the number of quality applications invariably exceeds the number of available spots that we have in the incoming cohort, and our applicant pool has become increasingly competitive over the last several years." Columbia notes that students will leave the program with a sound understanding of social work history and theory as well as aptitude in research. Program graduate Jared Bernstein was named executive director of the newly formed White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families in February 2009.

  Columbia University School of Social Work
  1255 Amsterdam Ave.
  New York, NY 10027
  (212) 851-2300
  columbia.edu/cu/ssw/index.html

Rutgers University School of Social Work

• Ranked 30th by "U.S. News and World Report," Rutgers University's School of Social Work is located at Rutgers' Brunswick, New Jersey, campus. Established in 1954, social work graduate students can benefit from the relationships the school has forged with more than 800 social service agencies in the New York/New Jersey area, according to Rutgers' website. Like Columbia, the Rutgers' program is competitive, admitting just six students for fall 2007.

  Rutgers School of Social Work
  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
  536 George St.
  New Brunswick, NJ 08901
  (732) 932-7520
  socialwork.rutgers.edu

University of Georgia School of Social Work

• Since its founding in 1990, the University of Georgia Social Work Ph.D. program has produced more than 85 graduates. The University of Georgia School of Social Work website notes that most of its Ph.D. recipients have gone on to work in academia, program evaluation and administration. The program accepts only students with a minimum GRE score of 1000, an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above and a graduate (Master's of Social Work) GPA of 3.5 or higher. The University of Georgia is located in Athens, about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta.

  University of Georgia School of Social Work
  Tucker Hall
  310 East Campus Rd.
  Athens, GA 30602
  (706) 542-3364
  ssw.uga.edu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work

• The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Ph.D. Program in Social Work offers several areas of emphasis, including "children, youth and family services; mental health; health care; school social work; and advocacy, leadership, and social change," according to the School of Social Work's website. The school notes that a recent article in the "Journal of Social Service Research" ranked the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign first in research publications among social work programs in the United States. The school is also home to the well-respected Children and Family Research Center. "U.S. News and World Report" ranked the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work 18th in the country in 2008.

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  School of Social Work
  1010 W. Nevada
  Urbana, IL 61801
  (217) 333-2261
  socialwork.illinois.edu/

University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work

• The Ph.D. program in Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington has placed students in various academic and research positions at institutions including San Francisco State University, Texas Tech and UT-Pan American. The program emphasizes excellence in research that can be applied to improve "the effectiveness of social welfare service and professional social work practice." UT-Arlington's School of Social Work was ranked 42nd in 2008 by "U.S. News and World Report."

  The University of Texas at Arlington
  School of Social Work
  211 South Cooper St., Box 19129
  Arlington, TX 76019
  (817) 272-3181
  uta.edu/ssw

University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare

• Ranked sixth in 2008 among social work schools by "U.S. News and World Report," the University of California at Berkeley offers a doctoral program in social welfare. Ph.D. students focus on three fields of study--based on their own interests--that include a social problem field, a social science theory field and a field of social welfare intervention. Berkeley's program boasts an exchange program with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford.

  University of California
  School of Social Welfare
  120 Haviland Hall #7400
  Berkeley, CA 94720
  (510) 642-4341
  socialwelfare.berkeley.edu