Marquette University Social Work (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Social Work
- Private nonprofit university
- Milwaukee, WI
- About 22 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Marquette University social work graduates earn about what social work graduates earn nationally, $37,494 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $19,500 in federal loans, less than at 88% of social work programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying social work degrees in Wisconsin.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all social work bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Marquette University graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Wisconsin median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin social work program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 39% 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 $207 a month, or 6.6% 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
Prices in the Milwaukee area are about 3% below the national average, so a $37,494 salary here buys what about $38,679 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
$59,280Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,710 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$82,130Median pay in Wisconsin. 3,580 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$66,910Median pay in Wisconsin. 3,770 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$61,860Median pay in Wisconsin. 1,880 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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 Marquette University
Social Work ranks 26th of 33 bachelor's programs at Marquette University by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($81,797), Nursing ($74,574), and Biomedical Engineering ($73,526).
Other social work bachelor's programs near Milwaukee
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,494 one year after graduating and $51,997 five years after. The median across social work bachelor's programs in Wisconsin is $42,035.
The median federal loan balance is $19,500, which ranks the lowest of 10 social work bachelor's programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $207 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 52% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Wisconsin programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
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 Wisconsin 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