Maine has 5 CSWE-accredited Bachelor of Social Work programs, the authoritative count from the CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs. The longest-accredited is University of Southern Maine, which has held CSWE accreditation since 1974. 3 of the 5 record an online option; the rest are campus-based. 1 is hosted at a Carnegie R1 (very high research) university and 1 at a Carnegie R2 (high research) university.
Each program below is scored on the same five-factor model used in our national ranking, so the order reflects accreditation longevity, delivery and schedule flexibility, program breadth, and the institution's Carnegie research tier, all applied identically nationwide.
Maine BSW programs at a glance
5
CSWE-accredited BSW programs
1974
Oldest, University of Southern Maine, accredited since
3
Offer an online option
2
At an R1 or R2 research university
Maine's 5 programs span CSWE accreditation from 1974 to 2016, and the highest-scoring on our five-factor model is University of Maine at 8.4 out of 10, a Carnegie R1 research university. The newest, Saint Joseph's College of Maine, earned accreditation in 2016. Among the Maine programs we have verified tuition for, published in-state tuition runs from $7,560 to $42,834 a year. A child, family, and school social worker in Maine earns a median of $63,290 a year, 6% above the national median of $59,550 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
All 5 CSWE-Accredited BSW Programs in Maine
Every one of these BSW programs in Maine holds current CSWE accreditation. Status, dates, campus locations and online options come from the CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs, and each card cites its own sources inline. Tuition is shown for reference only and is not factored into the score.
- #1
University of Maine
Orono, ME · CSWE-Accredited since 1979 · Online or On-Campus
8.4
Online or On-Campus Carnegie R1 Full & part-time 1 campus + online Accred. since 1979Why it ranks in Maine
Based in Orono, University of Maine is a public university offering a BSW in Maine. Juniors do volunteer service learning through SWK 395, then seniors carry SWK 495 for a minimum of 400 hours across fall and spring, roughly 14 to 16 hours a week, alongside a two-semester credit-bearing seminar run by a faculty liaison. Most sites operate standard business hours, and the school does not promise evening, weekend or remote placements. The school says internship rather than field placement, a change its own students chose because the word field carries associations with slavery, trafficking and migrant labor that sit badly with anti-oppressive practice. Students already working in human services can convert a role into an internship under three defined arrangements, each needing prior approval. CSWE accreditation dates to 1979, 47 years of unbroken standing, above the Maine median of 27 years.
Annual tuition (not factored)
In-state $13,760 · Out-of-state $37,910 / year
2025-26 tuition & fees, 30 cr · umaine.edu
Locations
Orono, ME (1979-present); Online (2025-present)
Five-factor score breakdown
- Longevity (40%) 9.5
- Delivery (22%) 7.0
- Prestige (15%) 10.0
- Schedule (12%) 10.0
- Breadth (11%) 3.0
- #2
University of Southern Maine
Portland, ME · CSWE-Accredited since 1974 · On-Campus
7.2
On-Campus Full & part-time 1 campus Accred. since 1974Why it ranks in Maine
Based in Portland, University of Southern Maine is a public university offering a BSW in Maine. The major requires 48 credits of social work courses plus 24 credits of foundation work in macroeconomics, American government, psychology, sociology and statistics, then nine more credits of social science electives. Human behavior and research each run as two-course sequences and practice methods runs three courses deep. Entry to methods requires 60 credits and a 2.5 GPA. BSW students complete 400 placement hours, 200 a semester at 14 to 16 hours a week, running from late August through early May in a single agency. The school maintains roughly 300 affiliate sites around the state, among them Maine DHHS, the Maine Correctional Center, Sweetser, Spurwink and The Opportunity Alliance. CSWE accreditation dates to 1974, 52 years of unbroken standing, above the Maine median of 27 years. No other program among the BSW programs in Maine has held CSWE accreditation longer.
Annual tuition (not factored)
In-state $8,316 · Out-of-state $24,500 / year
Locations
Portland, ME (1974-present)
Five-factor score breakdown
- Longevity (40%) 10.0
- Delivery (22%) 4.0
- Prestige (15%) 5.0
- Schedule (12%) 10.0
- Breadth (11%) 3.0
- #3
University of Maine at Presque Isle
Presque Isle, ME · CSWE-Accredited since 1999 · Online or On-Campus
6.6
Online or On-Campus Full & part-time 1 campus + online 1 certificate Accred. since 1999Why it ranks in Maine
University of Maine at Presque Isle teaches the BSW in Presque Isle, one of the CSWE-accredited BSW programs in Maine. Field education comes in two parts, an optional 200-hour practicum in the junior year and a required 500-hour placement in the senior year, both arranged in the student's own community under an instructor holding at least a BSW and two years of experience. Placement at a current employer is allowed if a social worker can supervise. Applications are taken on a rolling basis year round. Students already at UMPI apply to the major after finishing the first four semesters of the curriculum, submitting a personal statement form, a resume and two references to the BSW director, who also works transfer credit out individually. In-state tuition runs $7,560 a year against $12,840 for nonresidents, below the Maine median of $13,760. It carries the lowest published in-state tuition among the BSW programs in Maine.
Annual tuition (not factored)
In-state $7,560 · Out-of-state $12,840 / year
Locations
Presque Isle, ME (1999-present); Online (2025-present)
Visit the University of Maine at Presque Isle BSW program site
Five-factor score breakdown
- Longevity (40%) 6.3
- Delivery (22%) 7.0
- Prestige (15%) 5.0
- Schedule (12%) 10.0
- Breadth (11%) 5.0
- #4
Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, ME · CSWE-Accredited since 2016 · Online or On-Campus
5.3
Online or On-Campus Full & part-time 1 campus + online Accred. since 2016Why it ranks in Maine
Saint Joseph's College of Maine teaches the BSW in Standish, one of the CSWE-accredited BSW programs in Maine. Students complete two internships, one of them a full-year placement, and select the sites themselves from hospital systems, private non-profits, schools and drug rehabilitation agencies. Placement supervisors are licensed social workers trained specifically to support Saint Joseph's students through the academic side of the internship. An integrated senior seminar is taught online with campus and online students in the same section, and majors have access to the Social Science Observation Lab for faculty collaboration. Workshops and professional development trainings are offered to students free of charge. Published tuition is $42,834 a year at one rate for residents and nonresidents, above the Maine median of $13,760.
Annual tuition (not factored)
$42,834 / year (private, one rate for all students)
Locations
Standish, ME (2016-present); Online (2018-present)
Five-factor score breakdown
- Longevity (40%) 3.6
- Delivery (22%) 7.0
- Prestige (15%) 5.0
- Schedule (12%) 10.0
- Breadth (11%) 3.0
- #5
University of New England
Biddeford, ME · CSWE-Accredited since 2016 · On-Campus
5.0
On-Campus Carnegie R2 Full & part-time 1 campus Accred. since 2016Why it ranks in Maine
University of New England teaches the BSW in Biddeford, one of the CSWE-accredited BSW programs in Maine. Service learning comes first, in the spring of junior year, at sites like Cumberland County Jail, the Maine Minority Health Program, Partners for World Health and local soup kitchens. Senior year is a weekly two-semester internship totaling 400 hours, with placements including Preble Street Resource Center, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Grieving Children. Because UNE is a health sciences campus, social work students run clinical simulations alongside students from other health professions and attend shared interprofessional events through the Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice. Undergraduates can also pick up Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician certification. Published tuition is $41,050 a year at one rate for residents and nonresidents, above the Maine median of $13,760.
Annual tuition (not factored)
$41,050 / year (private, one rate for all students)
Locations
Biddeford, ME (2016-present)
Five-factor score breakdown
- Longevity (40%) 3.6
- Delivery (22%) 4.0
- Prestige (15%) 7.5
- Schedule (12%) 10.0
- Breadth (11%) 3.0
The Social Work Industry in Maine
A Bachelor of Social Work is the entry credential for Maine's front-line social-service workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET, social workers are employed across public human-services and child-welfare agencies, hospitals and health systems, K-12 schools, community mental-health and substance-use programs, aging and disability services, and nonprofit and faith-based organizations. BSW-level roles are generalist and direct-practice: case manager, child and family caseworker, community and behavioral-health worker, and social and human-service assistant. Supervisory, therapeutic, and independent clinical positions generally require a master's. If you plan to pursue graduate education, BestMSWPrograms.org covers the best MSW programs to help you take that next step.
Per the CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs, Maine's 5 accredited programs are based across 5 cities, including Orono, Portland, Presque Isle, Standish, Biddeford, 3 offering an online option. 2 are hosted at a Carnegie research university (R1 or R2), which adds research and teaching-hospital placements to the local training pipeline. CSWE standards require supervised field education, so programs build placement partnerships with local agencies, hospitals, schools, and nonprofits, which makes the state's campuses a training and hiring pipeline into the surrounding Maine social-service economy. Online-capable programs extend that access to students in rural and remote parts of the state, areas the federal government (HRSA) frequently designates as mental-health workforce shortage areas.
Nationally, the BLS projects social-worker employment will grow 7% from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 67,300 openings projected each year, many from the need to replace workers who leave the occupation. The BLS projects faster-than-average growth for healthcare social workers and for mental health and substance abuse social workers, specialties that hire at both the bachelor's and master's levels.
Child, family, and school social workers, the most common BSW-level specialty, have a location quotient of 1.24 in Maine, meaning the occupation is 24% more concentrated than the national average. The state supports roughly 3.1 of these jobs per 1,000 jobs statewide.
In Maine, social workers held about 5,120 jobs across the four social work occupations as of May 2025, per the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. Employment, annual wages, and pay range by specialty:
| Occupation | Employed in ME | Median | Mean | 10th to 90th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child, family, and school social workers | 2,000 | $63,290 | $66,180 | $50,110 to $84,090 |
| Healthcare social workers | 790 | $71,610 | $70,860 | $55,770 to $85,640 |
| Mental health and substance abuse social workers | 1,860 | $57,050 | $64,330 | $45,870 to $96,370 |
| Social workers, all other | 470 | $60,280 | $67,060 | $48,310 to $99,050 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025. Wages cover all workers in each occupation; BLS does not break wages out by degree, and BSW-level roles typically fall toward the lower end of each range. Location quotient compares the state's job concentration to the national average (1.0 = the national rate). O*NET reports tasks, skills, and local outlook by occupation.
Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Social Workers; BLS state wage data for Maine; O*NET: Child, Family, and School Social Workers; CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs; HRSA health workforce shortage areas.
Social Work Licensure in Maine
Licensing data from the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), the body that develops the social work licensing exams, captured 2026.
Maine licenses social workers at the bachelor level, so a CSWE-accredited BSW is the degree requirement for an entry-level license here. That makes program accreditation, the basis of our ranking, a direct licensing prerequisite.
| License | Name | Exam | CSWE BSW required |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSW1 (LS) | Licensed Social Worker 1 | ASWB Bachelors exam | Yes |
| LSW2-C (LSX) | Licensed Social Worker 2, Conditional | No ASWB exam required | Not specified |
The license ladder continues to the master's level (LMSW (LM)), and the clinical, independent-practice level (LCSW1 (LC), LCSW2 (LC), LMSW-CC (MC)). A CSWE-accredited BSW also qualifies graduates for Advanced Standing admission to a master's program.
How We Ranked These Programs
Every program is scored on the same five-factor model used in the national ranking, with no state-specific adjustments. Four factors are drawn from the CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs; prestige uses the institution's 2025 Carnegie research classification.
- Accreditation longevity (40%): years of continuous CSWE accreditation.
- Delivery flexibility (22%): online option and number of approved campus locations.
- Prestige (15%): 2025 Carnegie research tier (R1, R2, or baseline).
- Schedule flexibility (12%): full-time and part-time plans of study.
- Program breadth (11%): embedded certificates and dual-degree options.
For the full model, see our ranking methodology.