Social Work at Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester Campus

Rowan College's social work associate program shows surprisingly strong earnings—landing in the 95th percentile nationally—though that comparison needs context. At $37,250 in first-year earnings, graduates here earn about 25% more than the national median for social work associate programs ($29,768). The debt burden of $15,803 is manageable, translating to a 0.42 debt-to-earnings ratio that's well within reasonable territory.

However, the state-level picture is more nuanced. That $37,250 first-year salary is exactly at New Jersey's median for this program, placing graduates at the 60th percentile statewide. In other words, this program performs exceptionally well compared to social work programs across the country, but sits squarely in the middle among New Jersey schools. The modest 11% earnings growth to $41,408 by year four suggests steady but not dramatic career progression in this field.

The critical caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, which means these numbers could shift significantly with a larger sample. For parents, the takeaway is that this appears to be a solid, affordable entry point into social work—particularly given the reasonable debt load—but you shouldn't expect dramatically different outcomes than other New Jersey community college programs in this field.