Which Illinois social work program has the lowest debt?

Northeastern Illinois University reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,500, with first-year pay of $39,178.

How much do social work graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 13 Illinois social work bachelor's programs is $38,382 in the first year after graduating and $50,015 five years after.

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

13 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $38,382 in their first year, $1,163 more than the national median. Governors State reports the highest first-year pay ($44,133), and Northeastern Illinois University the lowest median debt ($17,500).

Median first-year pay$38,382National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$50,015National $49,258

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

Debt-to-earnings69%National 72%

All 13 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	Governors StateUniversity Park · public	$44,133	$47,709	$33,983	77%
2	Millikin UniversityDecatur · private nonprofit	$41,543	$53,182	$27,000	65%
3	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb · public	$39,641	$47,489	$29,850	75%
4	Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago · public	$39,178	$49,644	$17,500	45%
5	Illinois StateNormal · public	$39,041	$50,809	$25,000	64%
6	University of Illinois SpringfieldSpringfield · public	$38,707	$48,393	$24,810	64%
7	Aurora UniversityAurora · private nonprofit	$38,382	$51,486	$27,000	70%
8	National Louis UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$37,205	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$36,974	$48,780	$25,000	68%
10	UIUCChampaign · public	$36,815	$59,589	$19,344	53%
11	Bradley UniversityPeoria · private nonprofit	$36,017	$53,638	$25,000	69%
12	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$34,664	$46,380	$27,000	78%
13	Olivet Nazarene UniversityBourbonnais · private nonprofit	$31,720	$48,574	$27,000	85%

National Louis University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Northeastern Illinois University$17,500
UIUC$19,344
University of Illinois Springfield$24,810
Illinois State$25,000
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville$25,000

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

$63,220

Median pay in Illinois. 19,860 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $47,120Top 10%: $105,660

Social and Community Service Managers

$78,380

Median pay in Illinois. 7,520 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $50,840Top 10%: $118,170

Healthcare Social Workers

$64,270

Median pay in Illinois. 4,910 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $47,290Top 10%: $96,970

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$49,960

Median pay in Illinois. 3,460 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $39,910Top 10%: $79,050

Common questions

Governors State in University Park reports the highest median first-year pay, $44,133. Its median federal debt is $33,983.

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 Illinois 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