Does the ranking of the MSW program matter?

[LeoMSW]

I  am from California. I got into Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) for Social Work which is #2 in the country for Social Work. I also got into a Cal State. I want to get licensed in CA and work in California after graduation. Also WashU is maybe 10k more than the Cal State. Will it be worth it to attend a high ranked MSW program or should I attend a school in the state in which I want to work and practice? I want to get my LCSW after I graduate.

[PsyDuck90]

Prestige isn't that important in SW. Also, the Cal system has a good academic reputation as is. For $10k and the cost of relocating, I don't think you'll get so much more from WashU that you wouldn't get from a Cal state school. 

[CurseTen]

Having gone to a school in California for my MSW (USC), the internship I did there helped a lot of my fellow interns get hired right out of school. Also, it as a bit easier for them to network for jobs and supervision because they were guided by our placement staff. I’m sure going out of state and then coming back would be beneficial, but it may be more challenging coming back and trying to jump into the field. In San Diego (where I was located), the market was very saturated and very competitive- even for internship placements! I agree with PsyD- the prestige is nice, but it doesn’t really matter.