What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Social Work
Social Work is tracked across 5 U.S. postsecondary institutions in the College Scorecard field-of-study file, which links CIP code classifications from IPEDS to Treasury earnings records. This profile covers the post-baccalaureate certificate credential level specifically, because the Department of Education reports program-level outcomes separately for associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral awards. The CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs) taxonomy lets analysts roll up specialties into broader families, which is why earnings medians across schools can be compared on a common basis.
Across all reporting institutions, the mean of school-level medians is $53,824, calculated from 5 schools with published earnings data. The earnings distribution stretches from $27,015 at the low end to $67,411 at the top, with a 25th-75th percentile band between $56,583 and $60,275 around a median of $57,835. The top-reporting institution in this program is University of Michigan-Ann Arbor at $67,411. These numbers reflect earnings measured roughly a year after completion, using Social Security Administration tax records linked to federal financial aid applicants.
Variation across schools matters more than a single national figure. Completers counts reported per school indicate how many graduates’ earnings feed the median, which means small programs produce more volatile numbers. Median debt at the program level, when paired with earnings, yields a debt-to-earnings ratio that is the College Scorecard’s standard affordability signal — ratios under 1.0 indicate earnings exceed cumulative debt. Use the school-by-school table to spot institutions where Social Work graduates out-earn peers at comparable cost, and to surface gainful-employment patterns that only become visible at the CIP-code level.
Social Work post-baccalaureate certificate credential median earnings varies 2.5× across entities
Social Work post-baccalaureate certificate credential median earnings ranges from $27,015 (lowest) to $67,411 (highest), a spread of $40,396. That spread reflects typical sectoral variation between selective research institutions and broader access institutions. Earnings are measured roughly one year after completion using IRS records linked to federal aid recipients (see https://www.irs.gov/) — not all completers are captured, but the school-level medians correlate strongly with longer-term earnings trajectories.
Social Work operates only 5 institutions offer this program — among the most consolidated governance structures in the country
Most Social Work institutions offer this program are specialty-program scarcity that concentrates national supply in a small set of institutions — graduates often command stronger employer attention because the talent pool is structurally narrower. Consolidation produces narrower variance because resources pool across larger populations, but it can also mask intra-institutions offer this program inequities — sub-institutions offer this program differences within a single institutions offer this program are not visible at this aggregation level. Consolidated systems typically rely more heavily on top-down funding formulas than on local revenue variability.
Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field of Study file. Median earnings represent graduates who received federal financial aid, drawn from U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal student aid applicants. Completers count and debt figures reflect program-level data reported through IPEDS. Data is updated annually.