Which Virginia social work program has the lowest debt?

JMU reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,989, with first-year pay of $31,687.

How much do social work graduates earn in Virginia?

The median across 8 Virginia social work bachelor's programs is $37,905 in the first year after graduating and $49,706 five years after.

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

8 Virginia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Virginia social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,905 in their first year, $685 more than the national median. Longwood University reports the highest first-year pay ($41,160), and JMU the lowest median debt ($18,989).

Median first-year pay$37,905National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$49,706National $49,258

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

Debt-to-earnings71%National 72%

All 8 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	Longwood UniversityFarmville · public	$41,160	$46,849	$26,419	64%
2	Liberty UniversityLynchburg · private nonprofit	$38,828	Not reported	$29,000	75%
3	George MasonFairfax · public	$38,559	$60,768	$24,188	63%
4	Radford UniversityRadford · public	$38,272	$48,970	$26,000	68%
5	Mary Baldwin UniversityStaunton · private nonprofit	$37,537	$47,745	$33,375	89%
6	VCURichmond · public	$34,088	$52,309	$25,000	73%
7	JMUHarrisonburg · public	$31,687	$54,376	$18,989	60%
8	Virginia StatePetersburg · public	$28,527	$50,442	$31,000	109%

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

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

JMU$18,989
George Mason$24,188
VCU$25,000
Radford University$26,000
Longwood University$26,419

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

$61,330

Median pay in Virginia. 9,410 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $45,060Top 10%: $95,360

Social and Community Service Managers

$94,970

Median pay in Virginia. 3,300 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $59,810Top 10%: $142,420

Healthcare Social Workers

$66,550

Median pay in Virginia. 3,070 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $47,530Top 10%: $91,060

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$64,240

Median pay in Virginia. 3,670 people work in this job in Virginia. 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%: $48,530Top 10%: $102,480

Common questions

Longwood University in Farmville reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,160. Its median federal debt is $26,419.

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 Virginia 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