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Despite having an advanced degree and being
respected as somewhat of an expert, I barely
get by due to student loan repayment.
—respondent to NASW survey
I believe that unmanageable debt, poor preparation
for job negotiations, and low salaries
in the social work profession make the...
profession untenable.
—another respondent
Practically no one pursuing higher
education comes away without
some accumulation of loan debt
before graduating college or graduate
school. The debt tends to be more burdensome
for social work graduates than
others because their salaries, as a rule,
are lower.
According to In the Red: Social Workers
and Educational Debt, a 2008 report
released by the National Association of
Social Workers and the NASW Center
for Workforce Studies, educational
debt is one of the factors that influence
recruitment and retention in social work.
The survey, which was a follow-up to the
2004 benchmark study by NASW, was
administered online over a three-month
period and received a total of 3,653
responses.
As the report states, “While the
amount of educational debt is not
confined to a particular segment of the
student population, the implications are
vastly different for those who choose
careers, like social work, in which salaries
tend to be lowered....” Further, the
report says, “Educational debt has also
been blamed for deterring students from
public service careers, thus increasing
pressures on a workforce already facing
shortages.”
Among the respondents, 69% had
incurred debt to finance their social work
education. Debt burdens ranged from
less than $5,000 to $100,000—with 52%
owing between $10,000 and $39,999.
Ninety-five percent reported that the
debt they had incurred was for student
loans, 31% had used credit cards to
finance their education, and 12% listed
Loan Forgiveness Eases Debt Burden
for New Social Workers
by Barbara Trainin Blank
The New Social Worker Fall 010
“other.” Forty-one percent of those who
had incurred debt were solely responsible
for their household income, and
more than a third of respondents (36%)
with educational debt had social work
salaries of less than $40,000 a year. Only
13% earned more than $70,000.
When the survey report compared
educational debt amounts with annual
salary levels, the report found that
53% of respondents who earned less
than $19,999 had educational debt that
was greater than their annual salaries.
Twenty-five percent had debt more than
twice their annual salaries.
Furthermore, nearly a quarter (21%)
described their debt load as “unmanageable.”
Those with such debt are more
likely to be younger, female, single, and
African American (more than Caucasians).
Sixty-seven percent of those with
unmanageable debt earned less than
$49,999 a year, compared with 54% of
those with manageable debt.
Intae Yoon, Assistant Professor at
the School of Social Work, College of
Human Ecology, East Carolina University,
conducted a survey of his own of
BSW and MSW graduates to understand
better how they finance their degrees and
how much debt burden they have upon
graduation. He also wanted to explore
how social work educators help students
to avoid accumulating unmanageable
debt.
After his research, which he hopes
to extend further with more respondents,
Yoon concluded that another debt they
often end up with is of greater concern.
“Yet to me, the more serious concern
is students’ credit card debt,” Yoon says.
“There is a serious national trend, in
which more and more students are using
credit cards, especially during the current
recession. It’s very hard to get private
educational loans.”
For example, 11.1% of the BSW
graduates had a minimum of $10,000 in
credit card debt. And among those who
used credit cards to finance their BSW
education, 42% indicated that the availability
of these cards was either “very”
or “extremely” important to cover their
educational expenses.
In the case of MSW counterparts,
about 20% indicated that credit cards are
very important to cover their educational
expenses. Sixteen percent of them have
at least $10,000 debt upon graduation.
Yoon continues, “In the case of
credit cards, there is no forgiveness. The
interest rate is much higher than that of
loans. In the case of federal education
loans, there’s a 6-month grace period;
with credit cards, you have to pay back
immediately.”
On the plus side, though, social
work students are eligible for some loan
forgiveness programs after they have
paid off at least part of their student
loans.
The College Cost Reduction Act
of 2007 allows federal student loan
borrowers to choose an income-based
repayment program, which is up to 15%
of their discretionary income. For social
workers and professionals in nationally
needed areas, educational loans can be
forgiven possibly after repaying the loans