Baccalaureate Social Work Licensure: Its Effects on Salary and Use of Job Titles

Abstract

Texas' social work licensure statute limits the use of social work titles to licensed social workers. Yet the statute provides a loophole that allows human service agencies to employ unlicensed social workers, provided that those individuals do not use licensed titles. This study, which explored the relationship between social work licensure, job titles, and employment salary in an accredited undergraduate program, found that only half of the 1991 and 1996 graduates were licensed. Additionally, survey respondents (whether licensed or not) received comparable salaries, and the majority were assigned generic job titles including caseworker, casemanager, and other nonlicensed titles. Licensure exemptions at the baccalaureate level in Texas and elsewhere may pose a threat to the future viability of baccalaureate social work education.