Bowie State Social Work (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Social Work
- Public university
- Bowie, MD
- About 32 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Bowie State social work graduates earn less than graduates of most social work programs nationally, $32,989 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $31,000 in federal loans, more than at 83% of social work programs in the country. Several Maryland programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Maryland and national columns are the medians across all social work bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Bowie State graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Maryland median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Maryland social work program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Maryland medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 70% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $329 a month, or 12.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
81% of graduates (17 of 21) were working in Maryland one year after graduating. Prices in the Washington area are about 9% above the national average, so a $32,989 salary here buys what about $30,297 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to social work, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Child, Family, and School Social Workers
$76,390Median pay in Maryland. 4,710 people work in this job in Maryland. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 33,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Social and Community Service Managers
$87,450Median pay in Maryland. 4,300 people work in this job in Maryland. 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.
Healthcare Social Workers
$76,440Median pay in Maryland. 4,750 people work in this job in Maryland. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
$73,580Median pay in Maryland. 2,250 people work in this job in Maryland. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About Bowie State
Social Work ranks 11th of 12 bachelor's programs at Bowie State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($70,278), Other Computer Sciences ($58,006), and Teacher Education ($52,619).
Other social work bachelor's programs near Bowie
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,989 one year after graduating and $56,184 five years after. The median across social work bachelor's programs in Maryland is $37,612.
The median federal loan balance is $31,000, which ranks 6th lowest of 7 social work bachelor's programs in Maryland. That works out to about $329 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 94% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%. Compare the cost with other Maryland programs before deciding.
Most do. 81% (17 of 21) were working in Maryland one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Maryland comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the social work program.
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
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024