Rankings
Nationally Recognized for a Commitment to Civic Engagement
Newsweek ranks Widener University the No. 19 service-minded college in the nation, one of many service-geared honors awarded to the university.
Widener has ranked 28th on the Payscale.com list of Best Colleges in Pennsylvania by Salary Potential. This ranking puts Widener in the top third of the more than 100 ranked colleges for salaries earned, both for people with bachelor’s degrees and all alumni. It also notes 61 percent of all alumni say their work makes the world a better place, a response that puts Widener among the top schools for meaningful employment.
Washington Monthly Magazine ranked Widener among the top 100 national universities in its third annual college rankings, which measure how well a college or university serves the country.
Widener University was ranked #4 for Best Online Colleges for Value in Pennsylvania for 2019 by Guide to Online Schools.
In 2015, Widener was one of only 14 institutions named a finalist for the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll award. This is the highest federal recognition a school of higher learning can receive in recognition of the school’s commitment to civic engagement, service learning, and volunteerism. Widener has made the honor roll every year since its inception in 2006.
Widener is one of 22 colleges nationwide invited to join Project Pericles, a national organization promoting social responsibility in education. Widener uses the Project Pericles model in the classroom to integrate civic engagement and social awareness into the curriculum.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching chose Widener University as one of only 76 institutions in the nation to qualify for a new “community engagement” classification.
As a Bonner Partner, Widener is among 75 colleges and universities working to improve the lives of individuals and communities as part of the effort by The Bonner Foundation. Widener’s Presidential Service Corps is a Bonner Leaders program.
U.S. News and World Report ranks Widener No. 48 on its list of U.S. colleges for veterans.
MSW Program Rankings
GraduatePrograms.com ranks our Online Master of Social Work program No. 2 for the Best Schools for an Online Master's in Social Work.
Ranked 37th in the nation in the Best Online Master's in Social Work list by SocialWorkGuide.org.
Bestvalueschools.com ranked Widener one of the Best Online MSW Programs for 2021.
Social Work Degree Center ranked Widener in the Top 15 Best Online LCSW Degree Programs.
Social Work Degree Center ranked Widener in the Top 15 Accredited Online Masters of Social Work Degree Programs.
Widener is ranked No. 31 in the bestmswprograms.com 50 Best Online Masters of Social Work Degree Programs 2018 list.
U.S. News ranks our graduate programs in social work No. 104 in the nation.
Widener University has received the 2016-17 Corporate Citizenship Award from the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. This honor recognizes the Center for Social Work Education’s faculty and student research to enhance trauma care in the region.
Accreditation
Widener University is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE or the Commission) www.msche.org. Widener’s accreditation status is Accreditation Reaffirmed. The Commission’s most recent action on the institution’s accreditation status on June 17, 2017, was to reaffirm accreditation. MSCHE is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education to conduct accreditation and pre-accreditation (candidate status) activities for institutions of higher education including distance, correspondence education, and direct assessment programs offered at those institutions. The Commission’s geographic area of accrediting activities is throughout the United States.
Masters of Social Work Programmatic Accreditation
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has accredited Widener University’s online Masters in social work.
If you have any additional questions, please call a Program Manager at 1-844-386-7321
or click here to request a free program brochure.