Washburn University Social Work (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Social Work
- Public university
- Topeka, KS
- About 33 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Washburn University social work graduates earn about what social work graduates earn nationally, $37,908 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $24,623 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,579. Several Kansas programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Kansas and national columns are the medians across all social work bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Washburn University graduates earn about the national figure and about $1,524 more than the Kansas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Kansas social work program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Kansas 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 26% 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 $261 a month, or 8.3% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
91% of graduates (21 of 23) were working in Kansas one year after graduating. Prices in the Topeka area are about 11% below the national average, so a $37,908 salary here buys what about $42,680 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
$54,300Median pay in Kansas. 3,190 people work in this job in Kansas. 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
$79,260Median pay in Kansas. 1,570 people work in this job in Kansas. 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
$64,440Median pay in Kansas. 1,360 people work in this job in Kansas. 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
$56,330Median pay in Kansas. 1,620 people work in this job in Kansas. 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 Washburn University
Social Work ranks 15th of 17 bachelor's programs at Washburn University by first-year earnings. The top three are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($71,318), Nursing ($71,210), and Computer and Information Science ($64,361).
Other social work bachelor's programs near Topeka
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,908 one year after graduating and $47,831 five years after. The median across social work bachelor's programs in Kansas is $39,160.
The median federal loan balance is $24,623, which ranks 3rd lowest of 6 social work bachelor's programs in Kansas. That works out to about $261 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%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Kansas programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 91% (21 of 23) were working in Kansas 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 Kansas 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