University of Tennessee Social Work (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Social Work
- Public university
- Knoxville, TN
- About 84 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of Tennessee social work graduates earn about what social work graduates earn nationally, $37,730 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $25,683 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,579. It is one of the higher-paying social work degrees in Tennessee.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Tennessee and national columns are the medians across all social work bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, University of Tennessee graduates earn less than the national figure but about $3,416 more than the Tennessee median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Tennessee social work program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Tennessee 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 25% 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 $272 a month, or 8.7% 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
77% of graduates (23 of 30) were working in Tennessee one year after graduating. Prices in the Knoxville area are about 7% below the national average, so a $37,730 salary here buys what about $40,759 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
$56,310Median pay in Tennessee. 7,870 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$88,240Median pay in Tennessee. 2,770 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$61,240Median pay in Tennessee. 5,970 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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
$46,500Median pay in Tennessee. 2,220 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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 University of Tennessee
Social Work ranks 32nd of 55 bachelor's programs at University of Tennessee by first-year earnings. The top three are Chemical Engineering ($76,302), Electrical Engineering ($75,316), and Computer Engineering ($74,085).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,730 one year after graduating and $47,083 five years after. The median across social work bachelor's programs in Tennessee is $34,380.
The median federal loan balance is $25,683, which ranks 6th lowest of 11 social work bachelor's programs in Tennessee. That works out to about $272 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 68% 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.
Most do. 77% (23 of 30) were working in Tennessee 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 Tennessee 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