Social Work Degrees (2026 stats)
Executive Summary (TL;DR)
Social Work maps to BLS occupations averaging about $95,290, with roughly 52,540 workers nationwide in those roles. About 30,751 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 57%.
Social Work: what the data shows
Common questions about social work degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a social work degree?
A Social Work program is classified under NCES CIP 44.0700 in the Social Work field family (44.07).
IPEDS counted 18,489 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a social work degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 44.0700 in our file:
- 6,289 Associate (7.2% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 30,751 Bachelor's (35.4% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 49,463 Master's (56.9% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 396 Doctorate (0.5% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in social work?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Active Learning, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What jobs can you get with a social work degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Social Work to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic Counselors | 3,510 | $98,910 |
| Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors | — | — |
| Mental Health Counselors | — | — |
| Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors | 342,350 | $65,140 |
| Social Workers, All Other | 64,940 | $69,480 |
| Credit Counselors | 28,110 | $50,480 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a social work degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Social Work bachelor's program family: median debt $18,841, median earnings $51,790 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.51.
About 4.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $7,824 and median net price is $14,848.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Social Work and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$7,824 Median In-State Public
$35,300 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Social Work majors are, on average, $7,824 for in-state public colleges, and $35,300 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Social Work programs.
Institutions awarding the most Social Work degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 2,326 |
| 2 | Walden University | MN | 2,091 |
| 3 | University of Kentucky | KY | 1,253 |
| 4 | The University of Texas at Arlington | TX | 1,043 |
| 5 | University of Southern California | CA | 997 |
| 6 | Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | 976 |
| 7 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | 823 |
| 8 | New York University | NY | 776 |
| 9 | Aurora University | IL | 762 |
| 10 | Indiana University-Indianapolis | IN | 739 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
18,489 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Social Work from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Social Work.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 68,619 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,398 |
| 3 | University of Central Florida | FL | 59,095 |
| 4 | Liberty University | VA | 50,059 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion | AZ | 49,000 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Social Work programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haskell Indian Nations University | KS | $600 |
| 2 | Southeast New Mexico College | NM | $1,176 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Valley College | CA | $1,238 |
| 4 | Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso Branch Community College | NM | $1,372 |
| 5 | Dine College | AZ | $1,410 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Social Work programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coahoma Community College | MS | $560 |
| 2 | Henry Ford College | MI | $576 |
| 3 | Southern Regional Technical College | GA | $1,085 |
| 4 | Texas A&M University-Central Texas | TX | $1,113 |
| 5 | South Texas College | TX | $1,291 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Social Work programs.
Graduation Rates
56.86% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
57.41% Average Graduation Rate
162 Institutions Reporting
46.28% - 69.70% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Social Work programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Social Work is in AZ (3,069 completions). That state represents about 10.0% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is GU (4.05% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZ | 3,069 | 10.0% | 2.21% |
| CA | 2,147 | 7.0% | 0.48% |
| NY | 2,064 | 6.7% | 0.75% |
| TX | 1,681 | 5.5% | 0.57% |
| NC | 1,375 | 4.5% | 1.11% |
| FL | 1,329 | 4.3% | 0.58% |
| IN | 1,260 | 4.1% | 1.22% |
| MI | 1,154 | 3.8% | 1.01% |
| OH | 1,128 | 3.7% | 0.81% |
| IL | 994 | 3.2% | 0.72% |
| VA | 992 | 3.2% | 0.81% |
| PA | 932 | 3.0% | 0.55% |
| MN | 885 | 2.9% | 1.04% |
| NH | 756 | 2.5% | 1.20% |
| KY | 731 | 2.4% | 1.41% |
| NJ | 690 | 2.2% | 0.80% |
| MO | 561 | 1.8% | 0.79% |
| MD | 560 | 1.8% | 0.76% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 44.0700 in the survey year used in our extract (86,899 total across levels below).
- 6,289 Associate (7.2% of IPEDS total)
- 30,751 Bachelor's (35.4% of IPEDS total)
- 49,463 Master's (56.9% of IPEDS total)
- 396 Doctorate (0.5% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $95,290. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Social Work graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic Counselors | $143,815 | 3,510 |
| Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors | — | — |
| Mental Health Counselors | — | — |
| Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors | $99,061 | 342,350 |
| Social Workers, All Other | $83,694 | 64,940 |
| Credit Counselors | $70,096 | 28,110 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Social Work CIP family (109 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Social Work graduate.
- $18,841 median federal loan debt among completers
- $51,790 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.51 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 4.6% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$96,554 Average wage, mapped occupations (OEWS)
Occupations mapped to Social Work average $96,554 a year in the BLS OEWS extract.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Social Work majors.
Occupations by Share
52,540 2023 Workforce
The number of Social Work graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Social Work by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Social Work in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Social Work.
Age distribution for Social Work degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
93,195 Total Degrees Awarded
17,681 Male (18.97%)
75,514 Female (81.03%)
Gender distribution of Social Work degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
45,710 White or Caucasian (49.05%)
17,046 Hispanic or Latino (18.29%)
16,383 Black or African American (17.58%)
3,476 Two or More Races (3.73%)
3,355 Asian (3.60%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Social Work degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Social Work are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Social Work.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Social Work field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Social Work majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Social Work majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Social Work majors.
About
Social Work
In 2023, 18,489 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Social Work.
CIP Code
44.0700 - Social Work
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $18,841 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $51,790, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.51. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Social Work graduate.
Women earned 81.0% of 93,195 Social Work completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $95,290. The largest mapped role by headcount is Genetic Counselors (3,510 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $7,824 in-state at public colleges and $35,300 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.