T alking Points

• As many as 37% of public four-year-school graduates have too much debt to manage on a social worker’s salary.

• According to a report of the Council on Social Work Education, 81% of baccalaureate graduates, 80.5% of master’s graduates, and 65.5% of doctoral graduates have loan debt. The mean amount of debt ranged from $31,880 to $42,149.

• According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2018 median pay for social workers was $49,470. That’s significantly lower than the median pay for nurses ($71,730) or K-12 teachers ($57,980-$60,320), despite the fact that the typical entry-level education is higher than either of those fields.

• The job outlook for social work projects an 11% increase in the demand for social workers within the next 10 years (BLS, 2018), and yet there are already nationwide shortages, and especially shortages in certain underserved areas. Something needs to be done to attract and retain social workers.

• In addition, social workers are public servants who devote their careers to improving the lives of others, and yet their own lives are burdened by crushing educational debt. We owe our social workers more.

• Support for bills that provide loan forgiveness for social workers will help to alleviate this problem. NASW-PA is currently supporting a package of three bills that, together, would begin to alleviate this issue, each in an underserved area.

o HB1307/SB706 would allow loan forgiveness for both mental heath and intellectual disability employees and alcohol and drug addiction counselors.

o HB1980 provides loan forgiveness for child welfare workers employed at county agencies.

o HB2320 would create a loan forgiveness program for mental health school professionals, including school social workers, school counselors, and school psychologists.