CSWE-Accredited MSW and BSW Degree Programs in Florida at a Price You Can Afford

Florida is a place that has gotten pricier for everyone over the past few years. It turns out the cost of college here is no different.

According to National Center for Education Statistics data from 2023, the average annual cost of attending an American colleges for either graduate or undergraduate degrees comes in just short of $21,000.

You’ll be happy to hear that Florida beats the national average. With an average annual cost of only $13,708, Florida has some of the lowest undergraduate tuition rates in the country.

That’s just tuition and fees. You’re going to have to fork out even more for room, board, and other essentials.

While future finance bros and corporate execs might not blink an eye at that, for anyone considering a career in social work, it is bound to create some hesitation. The demographics of social workers lean toward the populations they do the most to assist: women, minorities, immigrants, and the less financially fortunate overall.

But we’re here to tell you that you’ve got great options in Florida for earning fully-accredited, well-respected BSW (Bachelor of Social Work) and MSW (Master of Social Work) degrees without breaking the bank.

How To Define Affordable in Florida Social Work Degree Programs

Before we show you what we came up with, though, you probably want to know how we decided what that magic number is that defines affordability.

In the real world, of course, it’d different for everyone. $21,000 a year is perfectly affordable to future plastic surgeons. But for our purposes, it’s a comparative number—affordable only makes sense when you are looking at the cost of similar options.

To figure out what those costs are in Florida in a way that makes sense for comparison, we took the published per-credit costs of social work schools here and multiplied them by the number of credits required to complete the relevant programs. We made conversions where necessary to turn quarter credit costs into semester credits so all schools are on the same terms.

When you total them all up, it shows a pretty clear divide in total costs—and the dividing line is right where you would expect, primarily between public and private universities.

The average total cost of completion for both BSW and MSW programs at public schools in Florida hovered right around $23,000, give or take a grand between graduate and undergraduate.

There are no major outliers within the public schools, so the good news is that every single public university offering CSWE-accredited social work degrees in Florida, both BSW and MSW, meets our affordability criteria.

The even better news is that there actually are a couple of select private schools who also come in within range… we have them on the list too, if you are looking for elite social work schooling at a reasonable price.

All These Programs are Offered at the Right Price… We Also Give You the Details to Ensure You Find the Right Fit

Social work involves the head and the heart in equal measure, so it’s unlikely that you’re going to pick your school entirely on the basis of a spreadsheet and careful calculations.

We’re giving you enough information about each of these programs to make a decision that draws in your personal preferences, goals, and dreams for where your social work career can take you. While all of these schools meet the stringent standards of CSWE (Council for Social Work Education) accreditation and the requirements of the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling for licensure, they each put their own stamp on the educational process.

So we’re laying out what makes each of these affordable programs special. Maybe it’s their unique designation as the only Historically Black College or University in Florida. Maybe it’s a particularly excellent range of fieldwork opportunities that come standard. Maybe it’s a strong alumni network you will be able to tap into after graduation.

No matter what drives your interest in social work or what niche you are aiming for, we give you enough detail here to draw your eye to the school that will offer the best fit.

On top of those unique details, we offer a standard set of information to help you quickly compare the schools point by point. You’ll find: