Oregon has 3 CSWE-accredited MSW programs, all concentrated in the western Oregon Willamette Valley corridor, anchored by Portland State University's School of Social Work. PSU is Oregon's primary graduate social work program and the only one with a Public Health dual degree, multi-city delivery (Portland, Eugene, and Bend), and a named Macro Social Work concentration. PSU's position within the College of Urban and Public Affairs and its downtown Portland location place it at the intersection of Oregon's healthcare, housing, and social justice sectors, with direct practicum access to Oregon Health and Science University, Legacy Health, Providence Health, and the dense Portland nonprofit ecosystem.
George Fox University and Pacific University both received CSWE accreditation in 2014 and offer Advanced Generalist concentrations. George Fox delivers from Portland with a faith-integrated curriculum rooted in its evangelical Quaker heritage. Pacific University relocated its campus program from Eugene to Forest Grove in 2023, a significant change that aligns the program more closely with the Portland metro social work market while moving away from the Eugene Willamette Valley community it had served since accreditation. Both programs added online delivery in recent years (George Fox in 2024, Pacific in 2025).
Oregon social work licensing follows a straightforward two-tier master's structure: the LMSW is the entry-level license after passing the ASWB Master's examination, and the LCSW requires 3,000 post-graduate supervised clinical hours over at least two years. Oregon does not offer a separate bachelor's-level social worker license. The Oregon State Board of Licensed Social Workers administers both credentials. Portland's social work wages are above the national median due to high cost of living, while rural eastern Oregon and the Oregon coast have documented social worker shortages.
All 3 CSWE-Accredited MSW Programs in Oregon
Scored on the same seven-factor model used in the national ranking. All data sourced from the CSWE accreditation directory and official program pages (.edu). Accreditation years are Initial Accreditation Dates from the CSWE directory. PSU CSWE locations: Portland, Eugene, Bend (all 1964-present), Online (2018-present); Medford and Salem closed 2022. Pacific University relocated campus from Eugene to Forest Grove 2023; online added 2025. George Fox online delivery added 2024.
- #1
Portland State University School of Social Work
Portland, OR · On-Campus or Online
8.5
60 credits 900 field hours ? Advanced Standing Accred. since 1964Why It Ranks Here
Portland State University's School of Social Work has held CSWE accreditation since 1964, the longest continuous accreditation of any Oregon MSW program. Two concentrations are offered: Clinical or Direct Practice and Macro Social Work. A dual-degree program is available with Public Health (MPH), with the joint program facilitated by Portland State's own School of Public Health and its relationship with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). The program operates from the Portland main campus, Eugene, and Bend, with online delivery available since 2018. The Medford and Salem sites, previously serving southern and mid-Willamette Valley Oregon, closed in 2022. Advanced Standing is available. PSU is Oregon's primary urban metropolitan research university, situated in downtown Portland, and the School of Social Work is housed within the College of Urban and Public Affairs, reflecting the program's sustained focus on urban communities, housing, social justice, and community development alongside its clinical track. PSU's downtown location provides direct access to Oregon Health and Science University, Legacy Health, Providence Health, and the dense network of community mental health, housing, and social services agencies in the Portland metro area.
Public (Portland State University, metropolitan research university). Contact the program for current in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.
View program page → - #2
George Fox University Department of Social Work
Portland, OR · On-Campus or Online
6.5
60 credits 900 field hours ? Advanced Standing Accred. since 2014Why It Ranks Here
George Fox University's Department of Social Work received CSWE accreditation in 2014 and offers an Advanced Generalist concentration. Online delivery was added in 2024. Advanced Standing is available. George Fox is a private evangelical Christian university with Quaker roots, based in Newberg, Oregon; the MSW program is delivered from a Portland location. The program incorporates a faith-integrated curriculum that may appeal to students from evangelical or broadly Christian backgrounds, while preparing graduates for licensure and employment across secular and faith-based social service settings. The Portland delivery location provides practicum placement access to the same large Portland metro social work labor market as PSU, at a private institution with a smaller class size and faith-integrated learning environment.
Private (George Fox University, evangelical Christian). Contact the program for current tuition rates.
View program page → - #3
Pacific University Claire Argow School of Social Work
Forest Grove, OR · On-Campus or Online
6.0
60 credits 900 field hours ? Advanced Standing Accred. since 2014Why It Ranks Here
Pacific University's Claire Argow School of Social Work received CSWE accreditation in 2014 and initially operated from Eugene, Oregon, before relocating its campus program to Forest Grove, Oregon (in the Tualatin Valley west of Portland) in 2023. Online delivery was added in 2025. An Advanced Generalist concentration is offered. Advanced Standing is available. Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove. The recent campus relocation from Eugene to Forest Grove and the addition of online delivery in 2025 represent significant changes to the program's delivery model that may affect practicum networks and student community as the program settles into its new location. The Forest Grove campus is approximately 25 miles west of downtown Portland, providing access to the Portland metro social work labor market. Students in the Eugene area, formerly served by the Eugene campus, may now access PSU's Eugene site or Pacific's online option.
Private (Pacific University). Contact the program for current tuition rates.
View program page →
Job Market for MSW Graduates in Oregon
Portland is Oregon's dominant social work labor market and one of the largest in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), the state's only academic health sciences university, employs clinical and medical social workers across OHSU Hospital, Doernbecher Children's Hospital, and its network of outpatient clinics. Legacy Health, Providence Health (part of the Providence St. Joseph Health system), and PeaceHealth are additional major healthcare employers in the Portland metro area. Portland's well-documented challenges with homelessness, behavioral health, and housing instability create sustained demand for social workers in public systems: Multnomah County's Behavioral Health Division, Multnomah County Social Services, and Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Child Welfare all employ MSW-level practitioners at scale.
Oregon's public behavioral health system, administered by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), has undergone significant restructuring through the Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) model, which integrates physical health, behavioral health, and oral health services through regional managed care organizations. Social workers play key roles in care coordination, care management, and community health work within the CCO system across Oregon. The Oregon Health Plan, Oregon's Medicaid program, covers a large proportion of Oregonians and funds social work-adjacent positions across the CCO network statewide.
Eugene and the mid-Willamette Valley represent Oregon's second social work labor market. PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center and Oregon Medical Group are the primary healthcare employers in the Eugene metro. Lane County Behavioral Health, Lane County Health and Human Services, and the University of Oregon's student affairs and counseling systems employ MSW practitioners across clinical and community settings. The closure of PSU's Salem site in 2022 left the mid-Willamette Valley (Salem, Corvallis, McMinnville) without a local PSU campus option, though PSU's Eugene site and online platform remain accessible.
Rural Oregon presents significant social work workforce challenges. Eastern Oregon, the Oregon coast, and the Klamath Basin all have documented shortages of licensed social workers, particularly in child welfare and behavioral health. Oregon's large Indigenous population, including the nine federally recognized tribes (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Burns Paiute, Coquille, Cow Creek, Grand Ronde, Klamath, Siletz, Umatilla, and Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw), operates tribal social services departments with their own workforce needs that PSU's online and Bend sites partially serve.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Oregon; Oregon State Board of Licensed Social Workers.
How We Ranked These Programs
Each program is scored on the same seven-factor model used in the national ranking. The state ranking uses identical criteria and weights. No Oregon-specific adjustments are made. Programs are ordered by composite score. For the full methodology, see our ranking methodology page.
- CSWE Accreditation (25%): Active accreditation status and continuous accreditation history.
- Program Leadership (15%): Faculty credentials, research output, and peer-assessment scores.
- Pathways (15%): Concentration variety, Advanced Standing availability, and dual-degree options.
- Delivery Format (15%): Online, hybrid, and in-person availability; start-term flexibility.
- Employer Signal (15%): Field placement hours required, practicum site depth, and documented placement infrastructure.
- Cost & Affordability (10%): Published tuition per credit or per year, in-state vs. out-of-state differential.
- Reputation (5%): U.S. News peer-assessment scores and institutional recognition.