MSW Graduates Salary

Is It Only About Money?

The average salary of someone with a MSW is between $35,000 and $85,000 per year depending on your job title according to payscale.com.

With all the new career opening in social work if you have a Masters Degree, it would be easy to believe that an increase in income was the only reason for a better education. This may be a very misleading factor. Many people who get an MSW are on the road to a career in Psychiatry or Psychology. Some people are using their MSW degree to advance their interest in a political career or to work in law enforcement.

Focusing on the high income positions in social work negates the other rewards. The reward of finding a home for family who lost their home in a foreclosure could be more important to some people than an extra dollar an hour in their paycheck.

The benefits of social work seldom come in a retirement package. Acquiring a Masters Degree in Social Work enables you to focus your attention on a particular issue that you might believe needs more attention from the public or that will help you function better in your current field.

Social services for families with children since the huge foreclosure crisis has been a major initiative for agencies. Assisting that family in locating health services, appropriate schools, school supplies and even furniture in a transitional phase resulting in a grateful- if embarrassed - appreciation may be the only reward you'll get.

One of the primary functions in all social work is to assist people who are devastated by one event or another. Investigating a family that is in some type of financial or drug related crisis is not the most pleasant experience. But, when a child is removed from a potentially dangerous situation, sleeping at night is much easier.

Some law enforcement officers are now taking sociology as a secondary major and go on to get an MSW. They are not seeking a new career. They want to do their job even better. In their opinion, being an officer is the best career. The MSW affords them a new view of the people they meet everyday and be more effective.

For those who desire a dual Masters Degree, the MSW is popular because it encompasses so many elements of human relations. Anthropologists learn to recognize subtle aspects of a long ago society. Historians use this degree as an underlying aspect of a dissertation in social history. Physical Education majors find that this is an ideal secondary degree as it compliments their work with school environments and helps them to become more aware of issues that may have been overlooked.

The bottom line is that the best career is the one that invigorates you and satisfies your needs. The people you touch and the changes you make in a life or ten are more important than income only. If you can have both an increase in money and personal satisfaction, all the better. An MSW degree offers you more than just advancement in position; it offers you a degree of influence based on your desire to understand.