Free Social Work Degree Programs 2025

Free social work degree programs give students the financial freedom to focus on achieving an online undergraduate or graduate degree. Students can earn a free online social work degree by transferring any credits and using financial awards from grants and scholarships.

Students may also consider affordable online social work degrees, as transfer credits, grants, and scholarships are not always enough to earn a free degree.

If you want to learn about advocacy, mental illness, substance abuse, and social policy, consider the free and affordable courses below.

Is It Possible to Earn a Social Work Degree for Free?

Students interested in mental health and human services can earn a social work degree for free from an accredited institution. The first step toward a free social work degree is to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online application form.

Students should also consider scholarship opportunities to help cover tuition costs. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) provides five scholarship options to lower tuition. The five scholarships include:

• Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial Scholarship
• Lawanna Renee Barron Scholarship
• Neysa Fanwick Memorial Scholarship
• Verne LaMarr Lyons Memorial Scholarship
• Social Work HEALS

Other avenues for financial assistance include help from your support system, tuition waivers, and military education discounts.

Top Affordable Online Social Work Degree Programs

Finding an affordable online social work degree program is essential to earning a college degree for free or at a reduced cost. Consider one of the affordable accredited institutions below to start your social work degree.

Arizona State University

Arizona State University offers an affordable Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree program for aspiring social work professionals. The program leads to licensure and covers topics like social service delivery systems, human biology for social workers, and ethics in social services.

Online tuition is $11,478 to $13,776 per semester, depending on where a student resides. In addition to an affordable cost, ASU offers a scholarship portal for students to search for ASU and non-ASU scholarship opportunities.

Western New Mexico University

Students interested in becoming child welfare workers for the state of New Mexico may be eligible for the Title IV-E stipend program, which offers grants up to $4,500 per semester, depending on the program level. The financial grant is available for WNMU's BSW and MSW programs.

The BSW degree program prepares students for entry-level positions in case management, community services, and more through course education requirements, such as diversity in social work and social welfare policy.

University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota offers an online bachelor's degree and a master's degree program in social work. Online tuition is $462.16 to $747.02 per credit hour, depending on the program.

UND provides a Scholarship Central tool that allows students to search and apply for scholarships. There are typically scholarship opportunities specific to social work.

Fort Hays State University

Regional residents of Kansas can earn an online undergraduate social work degree at the affordable rate of $197.46 per credit hour. FHSU's free transfer evaluation is available for students with transfer credits.

FHSU offers transfer scholarship opportunities, special out-of-state scholarships, and scholarships for incoming first-year students, in addition to the free transfer evaluation. Students can expect to learn about social welfare, research methods, and more in the BSW degree program.

University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington offers financial aid and scholarship resources to help students take affordable online social work courses toward earning a degree. UTA's financial aid and scholarship opportunities include:

• grants
• merit and academic scholarships
• Texas Leadership Scholars Program

Tips for Making Your Degree More Affordable

Students can make the cost of a college degree more affordable by exploring financial aid options, researching scholarship opportunities, and more. Below, we provide tips for making degrees more affordable.

Explore Financial Aid Options

To qualify for federal and state grants, students must submit a FAFSA online application. Federal student aid is based on the level of financial need and consists of the following:

• Pell grants
• TEACH grants
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
• Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants

Accredited institutions may offer additional financial aid opportunities for students in need. Military learners may also qualify for military grants.

Discover Low-Cost Online Degree Programs

Finding a low-cost online degree program is one of the most important steps to making a degree affordable. The cost of tuition typically depends on the program level, learning format, a student's place of residence, and part-time or full-time enrollment.

Self-paced online degree programs save time and money for students who commit to a full-time schedule and complete many courses in one term. Additionally, in-state enrollment and online tuition costs are more affordable than out-of-state or in-person degree costs.

Research Scholarship Opportunities

Researching scholarship opportunities is vital to making a social work program more affordable. Many scholarship opportunities are available through colleges, universities, and other nonprofit and private organizations.

Students should research options for combining scholarship awards to reduce tuition costs even more. Fastweb and Scholarships.com are two free online search engines students can use to find scholarships.

Attend a Community College or Public University

Community colleges and public universities typically have more affordable costs than private institutions. Community colleges provide low-cost programs for students to transfer college credits to a university degree program.

Employer Tuition Assistance

An employer tuition assistance program is an excellent way to reduce the cost of tuition or earn a bachelor's degree for free. There are employer tuition assistance programs that pay for the full cost of a degree and others that cover a substantial amount of tuition costs.