Which Louisiana social work program has the lowest debt?

Northwestern State University of Louisiana reports the lowest median federal debt, $28,875, with first-year pay of $33,596.

How much do social work graduates earn in Louisiana?

The median across 5 Louisiana social work bachelor's programs is $26,980 in the first year after graduating and $44,842 five years after.

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

5 Louisiana programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Louisiana social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $26,980 in their first year, $10,240 less than the national median. Northwestern State University of Louisiana reports the highest first-year pay ($33,596), and Northwestern State University of Louisiana the lowest median debt ($28,875).

Median first-year pay$26,980National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$44,842National $49,258

Median federal debt$31,117National $26,579

Debt-to-earnings110%National 72%

All 5 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	Northwestern State University of LouisianaNatchitoches · public	$33,596	$44,157	$28,875	86%
2	Southern UniversityBaton Rouge · public	$29,703	$44,421	$32,634	110%
3	Grambling StateGrambling · public	$26,980	$36,809	$49,736	184%
4	UL MonroeMonroe · public	$26,423	Not reported	$29,600	112%
5	Southeastern Louisiana UniversityHammond · public	$26,388	$45,263	$29,072	110%

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

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

"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

$56,800

Median pay in Louisiana. 1,110 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $35,260Top 10%: $75,110

Social and Community Service Managers

$82,090

Median pay in Louisiana. 2,680 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $56,010Top 10%: $126,320

Healthcare Social Workers

$61,080

Median pay in Louisiana. 1,970 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $43,830Top 10%: $79,170

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$47,100

Median pay in Louisiana. 970 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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%: $31,890Top 10%: $72,440

Common questions

Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Natchitoches reports the highest median first-year pay, $33,596. Its median federal debt is $28,875.

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 Louisiana 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