Which Minnesota social work program has the lowest debt?

University of Minnesota-Duluth reports the lowest median federal debt, $23,111, with first-year pay of $43,198.

How much do social work graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 13 Minnesota social work bachelor's programs is $44,546 in the first year after graduating and $52,015 five years after.

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

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

Social Work (Bachelor's) Programs in Minnesota, 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 Minnesota social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $44,546 in their first year, $7,327 more than the national median. Metropolitan State University reports the highest first-year pay ($47,637), and University of Minnesota-Duluth the lowest median debt ($23,111).

Median first-year pay$44,546National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$52,015National $49,258

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

Debt-to-earnings60%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	Metropolitan State UniversitySaint Paul · public	$47,637	$57,301	$29,615	62%
2	Bemidji StateBemidji · public	$47,192	$51,542	$27,000	57%
3	Southwest Minnesota StateMarshall · public	$46,368	$47,740	Not reported	Not reported
4	College of Saint ScholasticaDuluth · private nonprofit	$45,371	$51,589	$37,059	82%
5	Bethel University (Minnesota)Saint Paul · private nonprofit	$45,259	$50,324	$25,000	55%
6	St Olaf CollegeNorthfield · private nonprofit	$45,146	Not reported	$27,000	60%
7	Winona StateWinona · public	$44,546	$54,119	$27,000	61%
8	St Catherine UniversitySaint Paul · private nonprofit	$44,257	$62,568	$30,912	70%
9	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud · public	$43,726	$55,566	$27,996	64%
10	Minnesota State MoorheadMoorhead · public	$43,471	$52,122	$27,000	62%
11	Augsburg UniversityMinneapolis · private nonprofit	$43,303	$47,032	$25,737	59%
12	University of Minnesota-DuluthDuluth · public	$43,198	Not reported	$23,111	54%
13	Minnesota State MankatoMankato · public	$42,915	$51,856	$24,250	57%

Southwest Minnesota State reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

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

$67,450

Median pay in Minnesota. 6,540 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $47,890Top 10%: $99,320

Social and Community Service Managers

$84,220

Median pay in Minnesota. 5,430 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $61,130Top 10%: $136,140

Healthcare Social Workers

$73,970

Median pay in Minnesota. 2,430 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $51,720Top 10%: $95,200

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$75,020

Median pay in Minnesota. 3,590 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $50,950Top 10%: $98,520

Common questions

Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul reports the highest median first-year pay, $47,637. Its median federal debt is $29,615.

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 Minnesota 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