Best Child programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children.
17 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,526 people a year. The job pays a median of $56,550 in Florida across about 14,000 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Florida that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Florida that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Florida (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Florida page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 44.0701In Florida → | 1,479 | 96.9% | 15 | $37,264 | $26,140 |
| 2 | CIP 44.0702In Florida → | 35 | 2.3% | 2 | $37,264 | $26,140 |
| 3 | CIP 42.2703In Florida → | 12 | 0.8% | 1 | $34,454 | $21,878 |
Top 17 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 17 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 321 | Social Work | $35,358 | 78% | — | 40% |
| 2 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 261 | Social Work | $37,458 | 77% | — | 43% |
| 3 | Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 152 | Social Work | $39,912 | 63% | — | 66% |
| 4 | Barry University Miami, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 132 | Social Work | — | 38% | $24,719 | 77% |
| 5 | Saint Leo University Saint Leo, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 104 | Social Work | $34,463 | 45% | $18,986 | 78% |
| 6 | Ana G. Mendez University Orlando, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 89 | Social Work | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Florida State University Tallahassee, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 89 | Social Work | $32,604 | 86% | — | 24% |
| 8 | Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 80 | Social Work | $36,407 | 57% | — | 63% |
| 9 | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Tallahassee, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 70 | Social Work | $31,401 | 53% | — | 21% |
| 10 | Florida International University Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Social Work | $41,626 | 74% | — | 55% |
| 11 | Southeastern University Lakeland, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 55 | Social Work | — | 43% | $29,915 | 53% |
| 12 | University of West Florida Pensacola, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Social Work | $36,573 | 59% | — | 58% |
| 13 | Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Youth Services/Administration | — | 63% | $31,672 | 73% |
| 14 | University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Social Work | — | 69% | — | 53% |
| 15 | Eckerd College Saint Petersburg, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Developmental and Child Psychology | $31,596 | 66% | $31,022 | 76% |
| 16 | Warner University Lake Wales, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Social Work | — | 42% | $22,026 | 43% |
| 17 | Florida Memorial University Miami Gardens, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Social Work | — | 31% | $21,059 | 85% |
All 17 schools in Florida
Every school in Florida with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Central Florida | Orlando | Public | 321 | 1 |
| University of South Florida | Tampa | Public | 261 | 1 |
| Florida Atlantic University | Boca Raton | Public | 152 | 1 |
| Barry University | Miami | Private not-for-profit | 132 | 1 |
| Saint Leo University | Saint Leo | Private not-for-profit | 104 | 1 |
| Ana G. Mendez University | Orlando | Private not-for-profit | 89 | 1 |
| Florida State University | Tallahassee | Public | 89 | 1 |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers | Public | 80 | 1 |
| Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | Tallahassee | Public | 70 | 1 |
| Florida International University | Miami | Public | 55 | 1 |
| Southeastern University | Lakeland | Private not-for-profit | 55 | 2 |
| University of West Florida | Pensacola | Public | 39 | 1 |
| Nova Southeastern University | Fort Lauderdale | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 1 |
| University of North Florida | Jacksonville | Public | 26 | 1 |
| Eckerd College | Saint Petersburg | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
What child, family, and school social workers earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $59,550. Florida pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Florida
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Child, Family, and School Social Workers page.
How to become a Child
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Florida
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 8 majors mapped to Child, Family, and School Social Workers6 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 42.2703Developmental and Child Psychology
- 42.2710Developmental and Adolescent Psychology(no graduates reported)
- 43.0110Juvenile Corrections
- 44.0701Social Work
- 44.0702Youth Services/Administration
- 44.0703Forensic Social Work
- 44.0799Social Work, Other
- 51.1510Infant/Toddler Mental Health Services(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing child, family, and school social workers programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become a Child?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Social Work, which awarded 1,479 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 96.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Child?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Social Work, Research and Experimental Psychology. Together they graduate about 1,526 people a year in Florida.
How much do child, family, and school social workers earn in Florida?+
The median is $56,550 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.0% below the U.S. median of $59,550. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for child, family, and school social workers growing?+
BLS projects a +3.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 35,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
17 institutions in Florida reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do child, family, and school social workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Case Manager, School Social Worker, Family Service Worker, Family Protection Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 21-1021.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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