Social Work Salary

Social work is one of the most responsible kinds of jobs that you can find nowadays. It is hard work and it is not always appreciated as much as it should be. So what kind of salary can a social worker earn? This is not an easy question to answer. The salary of social workers depends on many different factors like their age, level of education, prior experience and many other things. We can therefore not give you an exact number for the amount that you should (or could) earn. What we can give you is an estimate of the average social work salary.

social work salary for BSW

A social worker with a bachelor’s degree in social work can expect to earn between $37,000 and $57,000 per year. The average social workers salary in this category is just under $47,000.  Of course this does not mean that every social worker will have a salary that is within this range. The actual salary will depend for a large part on your prior experience, the kind of responsibilities that the job entails, and of course the number of hours you work. One of the things that an employer will look at when determining the salary of a social worker is the competence and experience of the employee. A social worker that has a vast amount of experience within a wide variety of fields will naturally get a higher salary than a social worker that just has his degree and has no field experience.

Another factor that influences the social work salaries is the type of employer that he/she chooses to work for. A social worker that works for a non-profit organization or a government agency will have a lower expected salary than a social worker that works for a private firm.

The salary that an employee is likely to get is also dependent on the geographical location. This might seem a bit strange at first, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense: in places where there is a high demand for social workers the salary will be considerably higher than in places where there is almost no demand for this kind of work. The regions where the social work salary currently is highest are New York and California.

social work salary for MSW

The social work salary for employees with a masters degree in social work are a bit higher than those for employees with a bachelors degree. The salary paid in this category normally lies between $43,000 and $60,000, with an average salary of $51,000. But, like before, the total salary depends on many different things. Most important among these are again (field) experience and expertise. As most people with a master degree in social work tend to grow into management positions, field experience is not always required depending on the job description. Expertise is also very important. The social work salary is heavily dependent on the field in which you specialize and which employer you choose to work for.

The demand for skilled social workers has been steadily rising over the last few years. Even though the US economy is unpredictable at the moment, the general outlook for social workers is quite good. Government surveys indicate that the demand for employees with a degree in social work will only increase in the coming decade, and as a result of this rising demand the social work salaries are likely to become better as well. It is therefore not very surprising to learn that more and more young people have become interested in social work. For these people there are many different options and choices to choose from: what level of social work education will I sign up for, which college or university should I attend, should I choose a regular course or do I choose online colleges for social work, and what field should I specialize in? These are all very difficult questions to answer because there is no single right answer as every student has his or her own unique qualities and priorities. We can however try to help you make a decision on which type of education model is suitable for you.

Searching for offline or online colleges for social work?

The vast majority of the people that choose a career in social work decide to get their degree (bachelor or master) through a “normal” education institution. With this we mean they sign up for a university or college and follow the lectures, take written exams, and when they pass all of them they graduate. But this is not the only way to get a masters degree in social work. More and more colleges and universities have discovered the internet. Most use it as an extension of the normal courses and lectures, but some go a little bit further, these are the online colleges for social work. They will offer courses in social work and most of them allow you to view recorded lectures from anywhere in the world through their website. They also often have a system that can be used to get feedback from your teachers. Some online colleges even provide online tests and most course material is already available in digital form. So what are the advantages of these online colleges for social workers?

Advantages of online colleges for social work

Well, most of the advantages are quite obvious. For instance students don’t need to go to lectures in order to follow a class. Another good example would be that students can manage their own timetable; if a student chooses to view a recording of a certain lecture at 4 AM that’s okay. But there are also other, less obvious, benefits to online colleges for social education. When a lecture has been recorded, this information is continuously available. This means there is no limit to class sizes. Another benefit is that it is extremely well suited for adult education. People that work during the day can follow classes whenever they want, and more importantly from anywhere they want. It doesn’t really matter if the teacher and student are in the same room or half a continent apart. Taking all this into consideration, I think that online teaching will become more and more accepted and popular in the coming decade. I truly believe that the balance between traditional institutions and online colleges for social work will start to shift and that this will be beneficial for both students, as well as teachers.  

Like most professions, the field of social work is continuously shifting. No two problems are the same and new insights and developments result in an ever changing work environment. Most social workers enjoy the challenges that this dynamic job poses and are well equipped to improvise and use their common sense to deal with new situations. But not all problems can be solved in such a manner. The fast changing social work environment requires that social workers keep their knowledge up to date at all times. A special tool that has been developed to ensure this is CEU. This is an abbreviation of Continued Education Unit. These are small courses that a licensed social worker is required to take (and pass) in order to keep his or her license. Many of these professionals search for social work ceus online free of charge.

What are social work ceus?

A continued education unit is a small course that is usually concluded with a written test. Most social work ceus online free are generally considered to be equal to a participation of at least ten hours in a recognized continuing education program. During these programs small parts of relevant theory will be discussed and studied. Afterwards the participants take a test to determine if their knowledge of the subject is adequate. Many of these social work ceu programs can be followed as an online course. Most of these courses are quite costly but some of the social work ceus online are free. There are many different institutions out there that offer social work ceus online free, but they are not all equal. In recent years the social work ceu has been criticized because most of them were considered to be a result of low quality education. This has led to a standardization of the social work ceus.

Who issues Social work ceus?

Most continued education units for social workers are provided by the National Assosiation of Social Workers (NASW). Each year they offer a wide range of accredited courses that will result in a social workers CEU. You can search their website to find social work ceus online free. They offer many different subjects and a wide variety of resources on these subjects. Their site even offers the option to enlist in online social work ceus for free. They also participate in The Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts Program (MyCAA), this is an employment assistance program that consists of a financial support of $4,000.

Where can I find social work ceus online free?

Your best way of finding a good CEU in social work is through the NASW website. You could of course also call them to ask what the available options are. If you are interested in getting social work online ceus free, you should take a look at http://www.naswwebed.org/. This is a website created by the NASW that offers online continued education units in social work. When you go out and try to find a social work ceus online free, you should be aware that not all websites and institutions that offer these courses are accredited. Make sure you check the details of the ceu and make sure that you will get the necessary certification for your licensing.

Social worker schools online

More and more people are interested in a career in social work these days. And they have good reasons to be so enthusiastic. Even now, when the economic outlooks are not very good for most industries, the demand for (experienced) social workers is still steadily growing. No wonder that many young people consider a study in this field. There are many different social worker schools that provide excellent education on many different levels. The most sought after studies are those that result in a bachelor or masters degree in social work. Many colleges and universities offer courses that can help you realize your dream of becoming a social worker. Most of the people that are currently working as a social worker went to these same schools and got their degrees. Of course some universities have a higher standing than others which makes a degree from these schools much more desirable.  A more recent trend has been the increase in social worker schools online. More and more institutions are offering courses that can be followed from the comfort of your own home. Some courses allow you to follow (live) lectures using an internet connection. In this manner you can follow a class without even getting out of bed!

If you are looking for a more traditional approach to studying social work, you can apply to most colleges and universities online via their website. Most of these universities will also have a social worker schools online helpdesk which you can use to get specific information on a course or program. If you are interested in a more modern way of studying social work then we advise you to visit the websites of the individual institutions to see if they provide the option of online study. You should keep in mind that even when social worker schools online study is available, you will almost always be required to sit for a licensing exam. The following list provides some great resources for people searching for accredited social worker schools online.

Bachelor degree level schools online    

Brescia University (KY):

http://online.brescia.edu/online-degrees/bachelor-of-social-work-bsw/

Metropolitan State College of Denver (CO):

http://www.mscd.edu/socialwork/about/education.shtml

Humboldt State University (CA):

http://humboldt.edu/socialwork/swonline.html

Salisbury University (MD):

http://www.salisbury.edu/socialwork

Master degree level social worker schools online    

Boston University (MA):

http://www.bu.edu/ssw/academics/online/

California State University, Long Beach (CA):

http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/chhs/departments/social-work/distance-education

Florida State University (FL):

http://ssw.fsu.edu/index.php?clickLink=online-offcampus

All of the above offer social work courses. The exact terms and conditions may vary for each institution, but we believe that if you are looking for social worker schools online, these are a really good starting point. If you require more information on the program admission requirements, tuition fees or anything else related to the social worker schools online courses you should visit the sites and request additional information from the school of your choice.

Even in these times of economic uncertainty the demand for well trained, experienced social workers is still steadily growing. It is therefore not very surprising that more and more young people choose to start a study in social work. Some of them even choose to go and get a masters degree in social work to further improve their chances of finding a well paying job. Strangely enough most of them have not even bothered to check what the masters social work salary actually is. This is where we come in. We have provided a general indication of the salary and we have also identified the factors that seem to have the greatest influence on the  salary of a master in social work. We hope it will help motivate potential future social workers to choose a career in social work. But this is not the only group that can benefit from this information on salaries: if you are currently working as a social worker, and want to find out how much you get paid compared to your peers then this is the place for you. We will first take a closer look at the average masters social work salary.

How much is a masters social work salary?

There is not really a simple straight answer to this question. We can however, give you a good indication of the current average salary of a social worker with a masters degree in the US. Most social workers with a masters degree earn between 34 thousand and 84 thousand dollar per year. The mean masters social work salary is around 51 thousand dollar per year. These are just indications of course and should not be considered fixed amounts. What stands out when we look at these figures is the huge gap between the upper and lower boundary of the range. Those who earn a masters social work salary that is close to the top of the range get paid more than twice as much as a social worker who is on the low end of the scale. How can we explain these huge differences?

Why are there huge differences in social workers salary?

As we have already seen, there is a huge gap between the top earners and the average social worker. So how can we explain this? Well it is quite simple really. Just ask yourself which people have the highest masters social work salary? The answer is those with a management function. When a social worker is promoted to management level, his or hers salary goes up with a significant amount. And who is most likely to get promoted? The employees that have lots of experience are in most cases considered to be more effective in these jobs than social workers who don’t have the experience yet. So we find that age and field experience as a social worker are major factors when it comes to determining the masters social work salary. Also keep in mind that certain specializations tend to yield a higher salary. This may be something to keep in mind when you choose you specialization during your studies.

The current growing demand for more and more social workers has led to an increase interest in these studies. Many young people are now considering a career as a social worker. There are of course different courses that one can follow to become a social worker, but more and more students tend to choose for a masters degree in social work. But what can they expect to earn after they have graduated? How high is the current average social work salary with masters degree? Let’s take a closer look and see if it pays off to get a masters degree in social work.

The average social work salary with masters degree

In order to determine if the masters degree is worth having, we have to take a look at the average social work salary with masters degree. In most cases the salary for social workers with a masters degree lies between $34,000 and $84,000. It all depends on the exact position of the employee. We can however say that the average social work salary with master degree is just under $51,000 per year. This means that there are a lot of social workers that earn less and also quite a few that are earning considerably more than the average of $51,000. So how can we explain these differences in pay? Research shows that one of the most important factors for determining a social workers salary is his or her experience. The longer an employee has been active as a social worker, the more he will earn. The starting salary with masters degree is considerably lower than the salary for a person with the same degree and 20 or more years of experience. In fact, the average social work salary with masters degree for someone with less than a year of working experience is just under $37,000 per year. The salary for someone with 20+ years of (field) experience is over $60,000 per year. These are considerable differences: the 20 years of experience causes the salary to almost double! So how can we explain this?

Experience and social work salary (with masters degree)

Can we find a reason why experience has such an impact on the social work salary with masters degree? The answer is yes. When we take a closer look at the data, we see that most social workers who have a masters degree will end up in management positions. In most cases these jobs require a certain amount of previous field experience. So someone with a lot of experience in more likely to get the position than someone who just started working as a social worker, even if they have the same level of education. As these management positions generally have a higher social work salary with masters degree, we can explain why experience matters so much. While not as large a factor as experience, specialization is also a factor that influences the social work salary with masters degree. Employers tend to pay for expertise. Choosing the right specialization can greatly increase a social workers chances (and pay!).