Which Wisconsin social work program has the lowest debt?

Marquette University reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $37,494.

How much do social work graduates earn in Wisconsin?

The median across 10 Wisconsin social work bachelor's programs is $42,035 in the first year after graduating and $51,997 five years after.

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

10 Wisconsin programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Wisconsin social work bachelor's program pays its graduates $42,035 in their first year, $4,815 more than the national median. Viterbo University reports the highest first-year pay ($46,384), and Marquette University the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$42,035National $37,220

Median pay after 5 years$51,997National $49,258

Median federal debt$26,449National $26,579

Debt-to-earnings62%National 72%

All 10 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	Viterbo UniversityLa Crosse · private nonprofit	$46,384	$53,578	$31,000	67%
2	UW-River FallsRiver Falls · public	$45,870	$54,835	$26,303	57%
3	UW-Green BayGreen Bay · public	$44,135	$48,121	$25,237	57%
4	UW-OshkoshOshkosh · public	$43,948	$53,947	$26,750	61%
5	UW-SuperiorSuperior · public	$42,487	$50,212	$29,166	69%
6	UW-Stevens PointStevens Point · public	$41,582	$48,750	$26,500	64%
7	UW-Eau ClaireEau Claire · public	$40,562	$54,942	$23,000	57%
8	UW-MilwaukeeMilwaukee · public	$40,188	$49,042	$29,610	74%
9	UW-WhitewaterWhitewater · public	$37,952	Not reported	$25,912	68%
10	Marquette UniversityMilwaukee · private nonprofit	$37,494	$51,997	$19,500	52%

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

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 10 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

$59,280

Median pay in Wisconsin. 5,710 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $44,400Top 10%: $80,900

Social and Community Service Managers

$82,130

Median pay in Wisconsin. 3,580 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $61,090Top 10%: $115,520

Healthcare Social Workers

$66,910

Median pay in Wisconsin. 3,770 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $50,280Top 10%: $91,040

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

$61,860

Median pay in Wisconsin. 1,880 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $45,430Top 10%: $87,690

Common questions

Viterbo University in La Crosse reports the highest median first-year pay, $46,384. Its median federal debt is $31,000.

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 Wisconsin 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