Cal Poly Humboldt Social Work (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Social Work
- Public university
- Arcata, CA
- About 66 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cal Poly Humboldt social work graduates earn about what social work graduates earn nationally, $35,693 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $23,286 in federal loans, less than at 78% of social work programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying social work degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all social work bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Cal Poly Humboldt graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California social work program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California 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 60% 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 $247 a month, or 8.3% 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
94% of graduates (44 of 47) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of California outside metro areas are about the same as the national average.
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
$65,200Median pay in California. 60,310 people work in this job in California. 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
$83,210Median pay in California. 33,510 people work in this job in California. 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
$89,660Median pay in California. 17,690 people work in this job in California. 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
$79,000Median pay in California. 19,860 people work in this job in California. 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 Cal Poly Humboldt
Social Work ranks 9th of 32 bachelor's programs at Cal Poly Humboldt by first-year earnings. The top three are Environmental Engineering ($55,589), Forestry ($52,810), and Other Interdisciplinary Studies ($45,490).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $35,693 one year after graduating and $57,147 five years after. The median across social work bachelor's programs in California is $37,995.
The median federal loan balance is $23,286, which ranks 11th lowest of 16 social work bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $247 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 65% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay.
Most do. 94% (44 of 47) were working in California 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 California 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