Which Programs Qualify?
We start with Hapi’s IPEDS-derived records for each named six-digit field code and award level. We join those records to the federal institution directory, tuition and fees, graduation measures, and program completions. Schools must be active and open to the public in the directory, have at least one first-major award in the field and level during 2023–24, and have the inputs required by the degree-level formula. Undergraduate rankings require an adjusted graduation cohort of at least 30 students. This avoids treating a rate based on one or two entrants as comparable to a rate based on thousands. Rankings that score cost require positive annual tuition-and-fee figures for both residency groups.
A school appears once per list. Most rankings use the exact six-digit field code shown on the subject page. Economics covers the entire 45.06 family, including general economics, applied economics, and econometrics. Its school-level award counts add the first-major awards across those economics subfields, and the cards identify the reported fields. Other related specializations outside the stated scope belong to separate categories. Psychology and social work use their own federal categories and remain separate from the CIP 45 social sciences family.
For national master’s lists, we also check an official school page for a separately admitting master’s route. A master’s earned only on the way to a Ph.D. does not qualify. We preserve the school’s actual degree title, which can differ from the federal category name. Only confirmed standalone options appear in the master’s shortlist.
National shortlists require a current offering verified through official institution sources. State lists apply the numeric and directory criteria, exclude programs with a confirmed admissions suspension, and apply the additional master’s and social work requirements described below.
National lists include up to 20 qualifying schools. A category with fewer qualifying records receives a shorter list. Research-doctorate lists cover degrees classified by IPEDS as research and scholarship awards (level 17), rather than professional-practice awards (level 18). Degree titles such as Ph.D., Ed.D., and DSW are not interchangeable with those reporting codes; check the school’s actual degree and professional requirements.
How the Comparison Scores Are Calculated
“Best” means the highest scores under the editorial measures below. It is a starting point for comparing schools, not a claim that one school is the best fit for every applicant. Select your own priorities after reading the cost, program, and admissions details.
| Degree Level | Graduation Rate | Published Cost | Graduate Earnings | Program Reputation | Research Activity | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s | 20% | 20% | 20% | 25% | 0% | 15% |
| Associate | 30% | 25% | 0% | 25% | 0% | 20% |
| Master’s | 0% | 25% | 0% | 30% | 25% | 20% |
| Research Doctorate | 0% | 0% | 0% | 35% | 35% | 30% |
Each measure becomes a 0 to 100 component within the complete set of records that meet the numeric and directory criteria for that field and level. Graduation rates, program reputation, and degrees awarded use percentiles: for a group of N records, the percentile is 100 × (the number of lower values + half the number of other equal values) ÷ (N − 1), so equal values share the same midpoint rank. Cost uses a logarithmic scale between the 5th and 95th percentile of the group, so lower costs score higher, and a $2,000 difference counts for more between two low-cost schools than between two expensive ones. Cost gives equal weight to in-state and out-of-state annual tuition plus required fees. Graduate earnings use a dollar scale between the 5th and 95th percentile, so small gaps in pay make small differences in score.
The score is the weighted total of the components, out of 100. We don’t stretch scores so that the top school reads 100. When a school has no reported earnings figure or reputation rating, it receives the group’s median for that measure, so a missing value never raises a score.
Research-designation points are our editorial conversion: R1 receives 100, R2 receives 65, Research Colleges and Universities receives 35, and an institution classified without a research designation receives zero. These are not Carnegie quality scores. The category describes institution-wide research spending and doctorate production.
We sort by the unrounded weighted score, then by field-and-level awards, then alphabetically by school name. Display scores are rounded to one decimal place. Admission and current-program checks determine which scored records appear in the final shortlist; the comparison group remains the complete set of scored records. Program descriptions do not add points to the score. The score has meaning within its own field and level, so a sociology score should not be compared directly with an anthropology score.
What Each Measure Tells You
Graduation Rate
Bachelor’s rankings use the school’s six-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time bachelor’s-seeking students. Associate rankings use the institution’s first-time, full-time undergraduate graduation rate within 150% of normal time. These are schoolwide cohort measures, not the graduation rate for a particular major. Graduate rankings do not use undergraduate graduation rates, admission rates, or SAT scores.
Graduate Earnings
Bachelor’s rankings use the median earnings that the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard reports for the school’s graduates in this field at this degree level. It is a field-specific measure, so a school’s sociology graduates are compared with other schools’ sociology graduates. The Scorecard leaves out small graduating groups to protect privacy, which is why some cards don’t show an earnings figure. Associate, master’s, and doctoral lists don’t score earnings because too few programs at those levels have a reported figure.
Program Reputation
Reputation reflects how each school’s program in this field is regarded by employers, graduate schools, and academic departments. Each program receives a rating on the same five-step scale: little-known, known regionally, solid, strong, and nationally leading. An automated rating system applies the scale one program at a time, using the same set of facts for every program: the school, its location and control, its research designation, and its degrees awarded in the field. The rating is a scoring input only. We don’t publish it as a fact about a school, and payment or referral relationships play no part in it.
Published Tuition and Required Fees
Undergraduate lists use undergraduate figures. Master’s lists use graduate figures. Both are annual schoolwide averages reported for full-time study in 2024–25, before financial aid. They exclude living costs and do not establish the bill for an individual degree program. Residency, course load, differential tuition, aid, and assistantships can change what you pay.
Research-doctorate scores do not use sticker tuition. Funding offers and assistantship terms are central to a doctoral decision; compare the actual offer, guaranteed years of support, fees, and work obligations directly with the department.
Degrees Awarded in the Field
We use first-major degrees awarded from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 within the ranking’s stated field scope and degree level. This measures recent program activity. It is not a completion rate, current cohort size, number of available places, or employment outcome. Giving it weight favors established activity and can place smaller or newer programs lower.
Institution Research Activity
The 2025 Carnegie research designation describes the university’s research activity. It does not establish a department’s strength, an individual faculty member’s work, or access to a particular lab or supervisor. Graduate applicants should compare faculty interests and program requirements alongside the score.
Federal Sources and Data Periods
- IPEDS HD2024: institution identity, directory status, and 2025 research designation.
- IPEDS COST1_2024: undergraduate and graduate tuition and required fees for 2024–25.
- IPEDS GR2024: matched graduation-cohort denominators and completer counts.
- IPEDS GR2024_L2: matching graduation cohorts for institutions with programs shorter than two years.
- IPEDS DRVGR2024: institution graduation measures, including the 2018 bachelor’s-entering cohort observed through six years and shorter-program cohorts observed within 150% of normal time.
- IPEDS C2024_A: field- and award-level first-major degree counts for 2023–24.
- Carnegie 2025 Research Activity Designations: definitions of R1, R2, and Research Colleges and Universities.
- College Scorecard Field of Study data: median earnings for each school’s graduates by field and credential level.
- NCES Classification of Instructional Programs: exact field categories.
Federal figures keep the academic year they were reported for. Federal reporting can lag current program changes, so confirm current admission and cost terms on the linked school page.
Program Profiles and Source Checks
Program profiles use official program pages, catalogs, handbooks, or university transfer agreements. These profiles explain the curriculum, research options, fieldwork, and requirements that distinguish the actual program. Links beside the description lead to its sources.
We preserve school-published degree names, which can differ from the federal reporting category. Program descriptions and requirements are separate from the schoolwide federal statistics shown below them. An institution’s online flag does not prove that a particular program is online; delivery claims require program-specific evidence. The curriculum library provides additional examples of course requirements and study formats.
Social work bachelor’s and master’s cards include a linked CSWE accreditation source. For regulated professions, also verify the requirements of the relevant state board. A ranking does not replace professional eligibility rules. Compare field-placement arrangements and any advanced-standing terms directly with the program.
How State Rankings Work
State pages reuse the national comparison model. Scores use the full nationwide group that meets the numeric and directory criteria for a field and degree level. We then apply the state list’s program eligibility checks and order eligible programs by score within each degree level. A state rank tells you how a school compares with the other ranked schools in that state. State pages use the same formula and leave national scores and ranks unchanged.
We publish a state page for a field when at least three distinct schools meet the ranking and program eligibility requirements at one or more degree levels. The ranked-school count includes each school once, even when it appears at several levels. Degree totals in the page header add the 2023–24 awards from the ranked entries shown on that page.
How Many Programs Each State Page Features
Most state and field pages feature up to 10 program cards across all degree levels. Some pages retain longer lists of up to 25 programs with published program profiles. Each page states its own limit. We take the next highest-ranked eligible program from each degree level in turn, beginning with bachelor’s, then master’s, doctorate, and associate. Once a list is exhausted, the remaining levels fill the available places. Programs retain their within-level scores and ranks. We do not compare scores across degree levels or select schools based on whether a profile has already been written.
The page header, comparison cards, and best-for picks describe the programs shown. Where a page also discusses its wider statewide program pool, that section and its FAQ answers explicitly identify the broader scope. Historical doctoral award reporting remains separate from current program selection.
Separately Admitting Master’s Programs
Outside social work, every state master’s entry requires an official institution source confirming a separately admitting master’s route, with the source URL and supporting admissions evidence. The card links to that source. A master’s awarded only during a Ph.D. program does not qualify, and programs with a confirmed admissions suspension are excluded. An MSW qualifies through a matching accredited master’s program in the CSWE directory, as described below.
Social Work Accreditation
BSW and MSW lists on state pages include only programs the CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs listed as accredited. Programs in candidacy or with accreditation withdrawal in progress are excluded from the ranked lists. Some accredited programs report their degrees under Clinical/Medical Social Work (CIP 51.1503) instead of Social Work (CIP 44.0701). State pages include those awards for accredited programs and score them against the national social work comparison group, one program at a time, so no national score changes.
Historical Doctoral Awards
A state FAQ about doctoral awards uses the federal 2023–24 completions file, independently of the ranking eligibility checks. It names the schools that reported research doctorates and gives their historical award counts. Current admissions, advisor availability, and funding require a separate check with the department. A historical doctoral award does not place a school in the ranked list.
Best-for Picks, Wages, and Licensing
Each “best for” pick names the published measure behind it, such as the lowest schoolwide in-state tuition on a list or the most degrees awarded. Wage tables use BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics state estimates for May 2025 and do not enter any score. Social work and psychology licensing summaries come from each state board’s official pages and rules; confirm current requirements with the board before you apply.
Career Data and Commercial Independence
Career guides use BLS occupation data for pay and entry requirements. An occupation’s median wage describes workers at different career stages; it is not the expected starting salary for a graduate of a ranked school. BLS wage data does not enter these program scores; the bachelor’s Graduate Earnings measure uses the College Scorecard figures for each school’s own graduates.
Payment cannot change the editorial scores or ordering. Paid placements or referral relationships must be labeled where they appear. The editorial policy explains sourcing and corrections.