Which Ohio social work program has the lowest debt?

Cedarville University reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $35,967.

How much do social work graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 14 Ohio social work bachelor's programs is $37,985 in the first year after graduating and $47,226 five years after.

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

14 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Ohio social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,985 in their first year, $765 more than the national median. Capital University reports the highest first-year pay ($44,344), and Cedarville University the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$37,985National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$47,226National $49,258

Median federal debt$27,708National $26,579

Debt-to-earnings74%National 72%

All 14 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	Capital UniversityColumbus · private nonprofit	$44,344	$47,490	$43,038	97%
2	Bowling Green StateBowling Green · public	$40,959	$51,453	$27,000	66%
3	Wright StateDayton · public	$39,926	$48,503	$28,250	71%
4	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$39,292	$46,240	$29,125	74%
5	University of ToledoToledo · public	$39,254	$47,761	$31,000	79%
6	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$38,739	$44,646	$26,970	70%
7	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$37,990	$48,309	$23,570	62%
8	Mount Vernon Nazarene UniversityMount Vernon · private nonprofit	$37,979	$44,483	$34,837	92%
9	University of AkronAkron · public	$37,541	$42,412	$27,708	74%
10	Franciscan University of SteubenvilleSteubenville · private nonprofit	$36,697	Not reported	$27,000	74%
11	Youngstown StateYoungstown · public	$36,445	$45,268	$33,422	92%
12	Cedarville UniversityCedarville · private nonprofit	$35,967	$49,927	$19,500	54%
13	Cleveland StateCleveland · public	$35,869	$42,429	$33,000	92%
14	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$34,583	$49,179	$26,025	75%

3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 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

$51,520

Median pay in Ohio. 16,050 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $39,810Top 10%: $75,850

Social and Community Service Managers

$73,890

Median pay in Ohio. 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%: $47,970Top 10%: $108,830

Healthcare Social Workers

$63,610

Median pay in Ohio. 8,930 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $45,150Top 10%: $84,050

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$46,080

Median pay in Ohio. 6,050 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $34,700Top 10%: $75,610

Common questions

Capital University in Columbus reports the highest median first-year pay, $44,344. Its median federal debt is $43,038.

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 Ohio 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