Which Pennsylvania social work program has the lowest debt?

University of Pittsburgh reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,000, with first-year pay of $40,836.

How much do social work graduates earn in Pennsylvania?

The median across 14 Pennsylvania social work bachelor's programs is $36,299 in the first year after graduating and $47,207 five years after.

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

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

Social Work (Bachelor's) Programs in Pennsylvania, 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 Pennsylvania social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $36,299 in their first year, $921 less than the national median. University of Pittsburgh reports the highest first-year pay ($40,836), and University of Pittsburgh the lowest median debt ($22,000).

Median first-year pay$36,299National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$47,207National $49,258

Median federal debt$27,000National $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	University of PittsburghPittsburgh · public	$40,836	$46,526	$22,000	54%
2	Pennsylvania Western UniversityCalifornia · public	$39,192	$46,697	$27,000	69%
3	Temple UniversityPhiladelphia · public	$39,055	$50,360	$27,000	69%
4	La Salle UniversityPhiladelphia · private nonprofit	$37,453	Not reported	$33,206	89%
5	Shippensburg University of PennsylvaniaShippensburg · public	$37,206	$50,737	$26,982	73%
6	Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaKutztown · public	$37,135	$44,932	$26,624	72%
7	Eastern UniversitySaint Davids · private nonprofit	$36,308	$47,205	$27,000	74%
8	Cairn University-LanghorneLanghorne · private nonprofit	$36,289	$44,677	$27,000	74%
9	Lancaster Bible CollegeLancaster · private nonprofit	$35,235	Not reported	$25,000	71%
10	Messiah UniversityMechanicsburg · private nonprofit	$34,818	Not reported	$27,000	78%
11	Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg · public	$33,958	$45,848	$27,000	80%
12	Millersville University of PennsylvaniaMillersville · public	$33,119	$46,004	$27,937	84%
13	Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock · public	$32,316	$44,236	$27,000	84%
14	East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg · public	$32,208	$47,208	$27,000	84%

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

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

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

University of Pittsburgh$40,836
Pennsylvania Western University$39,192
Temple University$39,055
La Salle University$37,453
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania$37,206

Lowest median debt

University of Pittsburgh$22,000
Lancaster Bible College$25,000
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania$26,624
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania$26,982
Pennsylvania Western University$27,000

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

$50,820

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 16,200 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $38,430Top 10%: $78,470

Social and Community Service Managers

$75,280

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 10,220 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $49,470Top 10%: $116,990

Healthcare Social Workers

$61,900

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 9,630 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $46,770Top 10%: $83,220

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$48,290

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 3,500 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $37,790Top 10%: $73,940

Common questions

University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,836. Its median federal debt is $22,000.

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 Pennsylvania 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