Which California social work program has the lowest debt?

Cal State LA reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,000, with first-year pay of $37,477.

How much do social work graduates earn in California?

The median across 16 California social work bachelor's programs is $37,995 in the first year after graduating and $58,149 five years after.

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

16 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 16 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,995 in their first year, $775 more than the national median. San Francisco State reports the highest first-year pay ($48,750), and Cal State LA the lowest median debt ($11,000).

Median first-year pay$37,995National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$58,149National $49,258

Median federal debt$17,259National $26,579

Debt-to-earnings44%National 72%

All 16 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	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$48,750	$66,675	$17,259	35%
2	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$44,906	$68,779	$13,719	31%
3	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach · public	$42,925	$64,415	$11,276	26%
4	La Sierra UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$42,213	$58,985	$35,500	84%
5	University of Massachusetts GlobalAliso Viejo · public	$41,327	$46,024	$34,250	83%
6	Fresno Pacific UniversityFresno · private nonprofit	$40,458	Not reported	$25,000	62%
7	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino · public	$39,145	$61,618	$13,018	33%
8	Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$38,512	Not reported	$30,000	78%
9	Cal State LALos Angeles · public	$37,477	$59,861	$11,000	29%
10	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$37,290	$56,867	$18,000	48%
11	San Diego StateSan Diego · public	$36,916	$53,843	$15,176	41%
12	Chico StateChico · public	$36,840	$55,090	$17,000	46%
13	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$35,693	$57,147	$23,286	65%
14	CSUNNorthridge · public	$34,447	$57,312	$12,449	36%
15	Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa · private nonprofit	$33,089	$63,166	$24,643	74%
16	Fresno StateFresno · public	$31,986	$52,602	$12,000	38%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 16 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

San Francisco State$48,750
UC Berkeley$44,906
Cal State Long Beach$42,925
La Sierra University$42,213
University of Massachusetts Global$41,327

Lowest median debt

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

$65,200

Median pay in California. 60,310 people work in this job in California. 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%: $45,360Top 10%: $103,050

Social and Community Service Managers

$83,210

Median pay in California. 33,510 people work in this job in California. 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%: $56,510Top 10%: $149,280

Healthcare Social Workers

$89,660

Median pay in California. 17,690 people work in this job in California. 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%: $54,220Top 10%: $134,880

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$79,000

Median pay in California. 19,860 people work in this job in California. 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%: $46,450Top 10%: $147,300

Common questions

San Francisco State in San Francisco reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,750. Its median federal debt is $17,259.

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 California 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