Which Tennessee social work program has the lowest debt?

UT Chattanooga reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,043, with first-year pay of $27,923.

How much do social work graduates earn in Tennessee?

The median across 11 Tennessee social work bachelor's programs is $34,380 in the first year after graduating and $43,668 five years after.

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

11 Tennessee programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Tennessee social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,380 in their first year, $2,840 less than the national median. Union University reports the highest first-year pay ($38,056), and UT Chattanooga the lowest median debt ($20,043).

Median first-year pay$34,380National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$43,668National $49,258

Median federal debt$25,653National $26,579

Debt-to-earnings75%National 72%

All 11 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	Union UniversityJackson · private nonprofit	$38,056	$42,856	$39,415	104%
2	University of TennesseeKnoxville · public	$37,730	$47,083	$25,683	68%
3	University of MemphisMemphis · public	$36,220	$45,928	$36,506	101%
4	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro · public	$35,574	$42,999	$22,100	62%
5	Austin PeayClarksville · public	$34,384	$40,994	$26,000	76%
6	King UniversityBristol · private nonprofit	$34,380	Not reported	$28,732	84%
7	UT MartinMartin · public	$34,240	$45,566	$25,653	75%
8	East Tennessee StateJohnson City · public	$32,514	$42,050	$23,000	71%
9	Trevecca Nazarene UniversityNashville · private nonprofit	$30,204	Not reported	$21,500	71%
10	Tennessee StateNashville · public	$29,449	$39,205	$31,500	107%
11	UT ChattanoogaChattanooga · public	$27,923	$44,336	$20,043	72%

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

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 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

$56,310

Median pay in Tennessee. 7,870 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $39,650Top 10%: $77,230

Social and Community Service Managers

$88,240

Median pay in Tennessee. 2,770 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $58,990Top 10%: $137,510

Healthcare Social Workers

$61,240

Median pay in Tennessee. 5,970 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $41,120Top 10%: $83,280

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$46,500

Median pay in Tennessee. 2,220 people work in this job in Tennessee. 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%: $38,320Top 10%: $68,430

Common questions

Union University in Jackson reports the highest median first-year pay, $38,056. Its median federal debt is $39,415.

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 Tennessee 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