Which Arkansas social work program has the lowest debt?

Henderson State reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,239, with first-year pay of $22,458.

How much do social work graduates earn in Arkansas?

The median across 7 Arkansas social work bachelor's programs is $33,140 in the first year after graduating and $47,137 five years after.

How many social work bachelor's programs are in Arkansas?

7 Arkansas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

Social Work (Bachelor's) Programs in Arkansas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

7 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Social Work

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Arkansas social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,140 in their first year, $4,080 less than the national median. Harding University reports the highest first-year pay ($41,835), and Henderson State the lowest median debt ($22,239).

Median first-year pay$33,140National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$47,137National $49,258

Median federal debt$27,000National $26,579

Debt-to-earnings76%National 72%

All 7 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Harding UniversitySearcy · private nonprofit	$41,835	$43,107	$29,000	69%
2	University of ArkansasFayetteville · public	$35,424	$47,137	$27,000	76%
3	UA Little RockLittle Rock · public	$35,408	$51,585	$26,980	76%
4	Arkansas StateJonesboro · public	$33,140	$49,629	$29,370	89%
5	University of Arkansas-Fort SmithFort Smith · public	$32,532	Not reported	$23,500	72%
6	University of Arkansas at Pine BluffPine Bluff · public	$28,094	$41,063	$29,145	104%
7	Henderson StateArkadelphia · public	$22,458	Not reported	$22,239	99%

Debt and first-year pay at every Arkansas social work program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Arkansas medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Harding University$41,835
University of Arkansas$35,424
UA Little Rock$35,408
Arkansas State$33,140
University of Arkansas-Fort Smith$32,532

Lowest median debt

Henderson State$22,239
University of Arkansas-Fort Smith$23,500
UA Little Rock$26,980
University of Arkansas$27,000
Harding University$29,000

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$43,330

Median pay in Arkansas. 1,150 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,070Top 10%: $59,470

Social and Community Service Managers

$56,100

Median pay in Arkansas. 2,850 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,530Top 10%: $91,920

Healthcare Social Workers

$55,640

Median pay in Arkansas. 1,250 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $38,110Top 10%: $76,850

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$58,590

Median pay in Arkansas. 1,040 people work in this job in Arkansas. 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.

Bottom 10%: $39,440Top 10%: $99,070

Common questions

Harding University in Searcy reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,835. Its median federal debt is $29,000.

Social Work (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked328 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Arkansas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the social work bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024