Which state pays human services bachelor's graduates the most?

New York, where the median program pays its graduates $41,021 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. Florida is next, at $36,107.

Which human services bachelor's program pays the most?

Goodwin University in Connecticut reports the highest first-year pay of the 68 programs ranked here, $51,659. Its median federal debt is $35,166.

How much debt do human services bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $30,726 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 83% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Human Services (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

69 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Bachelor's in Human Services, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median human services bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $36,365 in their first year and $44,785 five years after. New York has the highest state median ($41,021), and Florida the lowest ($36,107). The median program leaves its graduates with $30,726 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$36,365Across 69 programs

Median pay after 5 years$44,785Across 66 programs

Median federal debt$30,726Across 81 programs

Debt-to-earnings83%Across 68 programs

All 68 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Goodwin UniversityEast Hartford, CT · private nonprofit	$51,659	Not adjusted	$49,492	$35,166	68%
2	Simpson CollegeIndianola, IA · private nonprofit	$46,184	$52,624	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$45,799	Not adjusted	$60,248	$26,000	57%
4	Metropolitan State UniversitySaint Paul, MN · public	$45,751	$46,391	$51,794	$31,000	68%
5	Fitchburg StateFitchburg, MA · public	$45,641	$43,156	$53,170	$26,352	58%
6	Cambridge CollegeBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$44,287	$41,876	$43,032	$32,524	73%
7	CSU GlobalDenver, CO · public	$43,336	Not adjusted	$44,167	$44,111	102%
8	St. Joseph's University-New YorkBrooklyn, NY · private nonprofit	$43,105	$39,941	Not reported	$35,750	83%
9	City TechBrooklyn, NY · public	$42,839	$39,695	$53,637	$9,000	21%
10	Metropolitan State University of DenverDenver, CO · public	$41,938	$40,696	$49,323	$29,913	71%
11	Syracuse UniversitySyracuse, NY · private nonprofit	$41,551	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,273	63%
12	Post UniversityWaterbury, CT · private for-profit	$41,124	$39,691	$50,579	$54,002	131%
13	Touro UniversityNew York, NY · private nonprofit	$41,021	$38,010	$45,562	$31,525	77%
14	Grand View UniversityDes Moines, IA · private nonprofit	$40,750	$46,432	$45,288	$30,750	75%
15	Chestnut Hill CollegePhiladelphia, PA · private nonprofit	$40,336	$41,340	$49,095	$43,125	107%
16	Indiana Institute of TechnologyFort Wayne, IN · private nonprofit	$40,180	$43,052	$42,694	$47,683	119%
17	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud, MN · private for-profit	$40,125	Not adjusted	Not reported	$46,312	115%
18	University of PhoenixPhoenix, AZ · private for-profit	$39,554	Not adjusted	$46,004	$50,140	127%
19	Western Washington UniversityBellingham, WA · public	$39,487	$36,899	$49,357	$20,041	51%
20	Upper Iowa UniversityFayette, IA · private nonprofit	$39,389	Not adjusted	$44,527	$45,388	115%
21	Florida State College at JacksonvilleJacksonville, FL · public	$39,173	$37,880	Not reported	$30,726	78%
22	University of BaltimoreBaltimore, MD · public	$39,099	$37,252	Not reported	$37,809	97%
23	Doane UniversityCrete, NE · private nonprofit	$38,613	$42,854	$41,016	$35,959	93%
24	SNHUManchester, NH · private nonprofit	$38,461	Not adjusted	Not reported	$36,787	96%
25	Judson UniversityElgin, IL · private nonprofit	$37,671	$37,687	$45,064	$34,455	91%
26	Columbia College (Missouri)Columbia, MO · private nonprofit	$37,571	Not adjusted	$43,570	$39,973	106%
27	Cal State Monterey BaySeaside, CA · public	$37,501	$33,870	$57,518	$14,480	39%
28	Indiana Wesleyan University-MarionMarion, IN · private nonprofit	$37,366	$40,037	$38,507	$40,228	108%
29	Mercy UniversityDobbs Ferry, NY · private nonprofit	$37,274	$34,538	$48,268	$28,500	76%
30	Monroe UniversityBronx, NY · private for-profit	$36,940	$34,229	Not reported	$31,000	84%
31	Central Washington UniversityEllensburg, WA · public	$36,644	$34,243	$43,254	$19,893	54%
32	Towson UniversityTowson, MD · public	$36,616	$34,886	$52,612	$21,250	58%
33	Walden UniversityMinneapolis, MN · private for-profit	$36,492	Not adjusted	$44,239	$50,495	138%
34	Missouri Baptist UniversitySaint Louis, MO · private nonprofit	$36,365	$40,042	$33,590	$29,389	81%
35	Saint Leo UniversitySaint Leo, FL · private nonprofit	$36,312	$35,113	$39,413	$50,406	139%
36	Indian River State CollegeFort Pierce, FL · public	$36,107	$34,915	$39,275	$13,583	38%
37	Purdue GlobalWest Lafayette, IN · public	$36,020	Not adjusted	$41,816	$57,500	160%
38	Pennsylvania College of TechnologyWilliamsport, PA · public	$35,787	$36,678	Not reported	$42,463	119%
39	University of OregonEugene, OR · public	$35,678	$34,518	$51,422	$21,417	60%
40	Elmira CollegeElmira, NY · private nonprofit	$35,437	Not adjusted	$49,233	$27,000	76%
41	GCUPhoenix, AZ · private nonprofit	$35,433	Not adjusted	$45,006	$30,509	86%
42	Fisher CollegeBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$35,289	$33,368	$45,881	$29,935	85%
43	Grace Christian UniversityWyoming, MI · private nonprofit	$35,205	$36,589	Not reported	$36,149	103%
44	Ottawa University-OttawaOttawa, KS · private nonprofit	$35,168	$39,046	Not reported	$39,775	113%
45	Lees-McRae CollegeBanner Elk, NC · private nonprofit	$34,811	$36,905	Not reported	$15,750	45%
46	Anderson University (South Carolina)Anderson, SC · private nonprofit	$34,478	$36,777	$37,273	$42,953	125%
47	Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)Lincoln University, PA · public	$34,374	Not adjusted	$49,213	$37,500	109%
48	University of Nevada-Las VegasLas Vegas, NV · public	$34,359	$34,366	$46,166	$26,945	78%
49	University of North GeorgiaDahlonega, GA · public	$34,032	$35,342	$39,322	$27,850	82%
50	Bluefield UniversityBluefield, VA · private nonprofit	$33,808	$33,439	$42,456	$25,000	74%
51	Lancaster Bible CollegeLancaster, PA · private nonprofit	$33,664	$34,502	Not reported	$48,590	144%
52	Gordon State CollegeBarnesville, GA · public	$33,648	$34,943	$38,650	$31,000	92%
53	USFTampa, FL · public	$33,351	$32,250	$44,642	$28,156	84%
54	Wayland Baptist UniversityPlainview, TX · private nonprofit	$33,082	$34,085	$42,812	$27,258	82%
55	University of the CumberlandsWilliamsburg, KY · private nonprofit	$32,938	$36,533	$38,951	$22,783	69%
56	Wingate UniversityWingate, NC · private nonprofit	$32,843	$34,819	$47,697	$27,000	82%
57	University of DelawareNewark, DE · public	$32,812	Not adjusted	$53,343	$24,413	74%
58	Lenoir-Rhyne UniversityHickory, NC · private nonprofit	$32,732	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	82%
59	Quincy UniversityQuincy, IL · private nonprofit	$32,726	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	83%
60	East Tennessee StateJohnson City, TN · public	$32,437	$35,307	$40,094	$22,150	68%
61	Southeastern UniversityLakeland, FL · private nonprofit	$32,373	Not adjusted	$33,921	$26,121	81%
62	Southern Wesleyan UniversityCentral, SC · private nonprofit	$32,290	$34,443	$37,793	$41,027	127%
63	East Central UniversityAda, OK · public	$32,083	$36,523	$42,443	$28,000	87%
64	Drury UniversitySpringfield, MO · private nonprofit	$30,564	$33,654	$38,354	$33,492	110%
65	Kennesaw StateKennesaw, GA · public	$30,437	$31,609	$43,865	$30,500	100%
66	Shorter UniversityRome, GA · private nonprofit	$30,167	$31,328	$37,893	$46,320	154%
67	Lindsey Wilson UniversityColumbia, KY · private nonprofit	$29,318	$32,518	$36,474	$22,774	78%
68	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb, IL · public	$29,062	$29,074	$46,762	$27,000	93%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 50 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 18, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

One program reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked. One more program reports pay but isn't listed, because College Scorecard's school file doesn't name its school. The national medians above still count them.

Human Services (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's human services bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
New York	7	$41,021	$28,875
Florida	5	$36,107	$28,156

Programs in 28 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

City Tech, NY$9,000
Indian River State College, FL$13,583
Southeastern University, FL$26,121
Syracuse University, NY$26,273
Elmira College, NY$27,000
USF, FL$28,156
Mercy University, NY$28,500
Florida State College at Jacksonville, FL$30,726
Monroe University, NY$31,000
Touro University, NY$31,525

Lowest debt for the pay

City Tech, NY21%
Indian River State College, FL38%
Syracuse University, NY63%
Elmira College, NY76%
Mercy University, NY76%
Touro University, NY77%
Florida State College at Jacksonville, FL78%
Southeastern University, FL81%
St. Joseph's University-New York, NY83%
Monroe University, NY84%

Only the 12 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to human services, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Social and Human Service Assistants

$45,930

Median pay in the US. 437,860 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 48,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $34,200Top 10%: $63,290

Social and Community Service Managers

$80,390

Median pay in the US. 209,330 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 18,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $53,150Top 10%: $132,260

Common questions

The median human services bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $36,365 in their first year and $44,785 five years after.

Human Services (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked31 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024