ABSTRACT
In a labor market, wages vary based on the supply and demand for workers, although this conventional understanding must be adjusted for educational requirements and for the cost of professional training. Despite the unbridled expansion of social work programs, only recently have labor market considerations factored into discussions about the number of professionals that graduate. The prudent student will gauge post-graduate earning in relation to the cost of higher education, and increasingly, the gap between the two has widened. Revenue reductions by state and local governments for higher education are strongly correlated to rapidly rising tuition costs at public colleges. In that sense, states are shifting more of the fiscal burden for higher education onto consumers. The likelihood of high loan debt invariably discourages some students from entering lower-paying careers like social work and teaching. Social work salaries lag behind those of other traditionally female professions.
