Texas Tech Social Work (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Social Work
- Public university
- Lubbock, TX
- About 22 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Texas Tech social work graduates earn about what social work graduates earn nationally, $33,921 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $29,875 in federal loans, more than at 79% of social work programs in the country. Several Texas programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all social work bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Texas Tech graduates earn more than the national figure and about $4,395 more than the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas social work program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 $317 a month, or 11.2% 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
100% of graduates (16 of 16) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the Lubbock area are about 9% below the national average, so a $33,921 salary here buys what about $37,146 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
$55,680Median pay in Texas. 21,670 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$76,520Median pay in Texas. 13,460 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$69,990Median pay in Texas. 10,880 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$46,630Median pay in Texas. 8,220 people work in this job in Texas. 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 Texas Tech
Social Work ranks 44th of 59 bachelor's programs at Texas Tech by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($85,619), Computer and Information Science ($82,521), and Petroleum Engineering ($80,460).
Other social work bachelor's programs near Lubbock
Common questions
The median graduate earns $33,921 one year after graduating and $54,331 five years after. The median across social work bachelor's programs in Texas is $37,401.
The median federal loan balance is $29,875, which ranks 17th lowest of 24 social work bachelor's programs in Texas. That works out to about $317 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 88% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%. Compare the cost with other Texas programs before deciding.
Most do. 100% (16 of 16) were working in Texas 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 Texas 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