Eastern Connecticut State University’s bachelor’s degree in social work was recently named one of the nation’s 101 most affordable social work programs by humanservicesed.org.

Humanservicesed.org, which supports educational programs and careers in a variety of human services fields, developed a list of the most affordable accredited bachelor of social work programs in all 50 states, featuring one public and one private institution per state where both options are available. If there was more than one program in the private or public sector with similar costs, both were included.

The organization determined an average four-year cost of the accredited bachelor of social work programs in each state — one average for programs offered at public schools and a separate average for programs offered at private schools.

“We are honored to be among the 101 most affordable social work programs in the nation,” said Eunice Matthews-Armstead, professor and coordinator of Eastern’s social work program. “Accessibility is an important issue for us as we strive to prepare a diverse population of students to be competent generalist social work practitioners concerned with issues of social justice. We provide our student with a strong and supportive learning community that successfully graduates 98 percent of the students, of whom 76 percent gain access to some of the top advanced standing Master of Social Work programs.”

Each school on the list is accredited by a regional or national accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, only programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Commission on Accreditation were listed. CSWE accreditation looks at how curriculum is built and kept current; how faculty are evaluated; testing and grading standards; and resources and administrative support systems.

“I am very pleased to see that our social work program, which has a strong academic reputation among our region’s human service agencies, is being recognized as being one of the nation’s most affordable programs,” said Eastern President Elsa Núñez. “At Eastern, we pride ourselves on offering high quality educational experiences while also being accessible to students from all walks of life. The Social Work program exemplifies both those standards.”

In addition to a cost estimate for four years of education at each institution, the profiles found at humanservicesed.org also provide other useful information about the institutions that made the list.