Pennsylvania · BSW programs by city
Best BSW Programs near Erie, PA (2026)
Published
Edited by Zoe MacDougall, BS in Psychology
Erie, Pennsylvania (population 92,957) has 1 CSWE-accredited BSW program based in the city , with 1 more accredited program within about 60 miles. For Erie residents who need to study from home, 8 Pennsylvania programs also run an online option. Every program on this Erie page is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), which is what Advanced Standing admission to an MSW depends on.
Studying Social Work in Erie
Erie gives BSW students a lakeside city of about 93,000 residents that serves as the hub for social and health services across Northwestern Pennsylvania. As the seat of Erie County, it brings together hospitals, county agencies, schools, and nonprofits that serve both city neighborhoods and a wide rural region.
For a baccalaureate student, Erie’s distinctive feature is its history as a refugee resettlement city. Families from Bhutan, Iraq, Syria, Africa, and other regions have settled here, and that has shaped local schools, health care, and community services in a way unusual for a city its size.
Gannon University offers a CSWE-accredited BSW program in Erie, and Pennsylvania Western University’s Edinboro campus is a short drive away, giving the region a steady pipeline of social work students and graduates.
The Best BSW Programs in Erie, PA
Accredited programs with a campus in Erie, ranked by our five-factor model. A Erie program shows a national or online rank badge only if it places in that list's top 25.
- #1 In Erie
Gannon University
Erie, PA · CSWE-accredited since 1977 · Online or On-Campus
7.3
Online option Full-timeWhy it ranks near Erie
Gannon University teaches the BSW in Erie itself. The stated learning outcomes name the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching alongside professional values, a reflection of Gannon's Catholic identity. The Social Work Club also hosts one of Erie's largest single-day Christmas celebrations for homeless and underserved residents, serving more than 500 guests. Gannon reports that 98 percent of its social work graduates who apply to graduate school are accepted. Alumni have gone on to Columbia, the University of Pittsburgh, Case Western Reserve's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and the University at Buffalo. Published tuition is $36,865 a year at one rate for residents and nonresidents, above the local median of $23,970.
Five-factor score breakdown
- Accreditation longevity (40%) 9.8
- Delivery flexibility (22%) 7.0
- Prestige (Carnegie research tier) (15%) 5.0
- Schedule flexibility (12%) 6.0
- Program breadth (11%) 3.0
Accredited Campuses Within 60 Miles of Erie
1 accredited program with a campus within about 60 straight-line miles of central Erie, ranked by our five-factor model. The full profile for each school sits on the page of the city its campus is in, or in the Pennsylvania ranking.
| Program | Nearest campus | Miles | Format | Natl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania Western University | Edinboro | ~17 | Online or On-Campus | #41 |
Online BSW Programs Open to Erie Students
Pennsylvania-based CSWE-accredited programs with an online option, which Erie residents can complete from home. Programs based outside Pennsylvania that also take Erie students are in the national online BSW ranking.
| Institution | Accredited | Format | Natl. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania | 1977 | Online or On-Campus | #32 |
| Pennsylvania Western University | 1976 | Online or On-Campus | #41 |
| Millersville University of Pennsylvania | 1981 | Online or On-Campus | #53 |
| Alvernia University | 1997 | Online or On-Campus | #147 |
| Gannon University | 1977 | Online or On-Campus | #164 |
| Carlow University | 1997 | Online | #346 |
| University of Valley Forge | 2008 | Online or On-Campus | #391 |
| Gwynedd Mercy University | 2017 | Online or On-Campus | #454 |
What Social Workers Earn in the Erie Area in 2026
Erie, Pennsylvania sits within the Erie, PA metro area, the labor market that sets pay and demand for its social-service workforce. The labor market Erie draws on employs roughly 680 social workers across the specialties , and the most common BSW-level specialty there, child, family, and school social work, pays a $44,810 median. These figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS program (May 2025) for the area around Erie.
| Occupation | Employed | Median wage | Typical range (10th–90th) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child, family & school social workers | 490 | $44,810 | $33,990 to $64,380 |
| Social & human service assistants (entry-level) | 640 | $39,710 | $30,140 to $48,120 |
| Healthcare social workers | 130 | $60,390 | $39,940 to $78,460 |
| Social workers, all other | 60 | $84,990 | $60,700 to $104,960 |
| Social & community service managers (macro) | 230 | $66,520 | $48,440 to $100,770 |
How local pay compares
Child, family & school social workers around Erie earn a median of $44,810 versus $50,820 statewide in Pennsylvania and $59,550 nationally. That is below the Pennsylvania median.
Where do social workers work in Erie in 2026?
Erie’s social-work employers serve both the city and a wide rural region of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Erie County Office of Children and Youth handles child welfare, and the city’s two hospital systems, UPMC Hamot and Saint Vincent Hospital, part of Allegheny Health Network, employ medical social workers and case managers. The Erie VA Medical Center serves veterans from across the region.
Behavioral-health providers such as Safe Harbor Behavioral Health and Stairways Behavioral Health hire case managers and support staff, and Erie’s Public Schools employ school-based workers serving a diverse student body. Erie’s history of refugee resettlement supports agencies including the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Erie office and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie, which hire caseworkers for newly arrived families.
Erie, Pennsylvania sits in Erie County. Representative organizations in and around the city that commonly employ social workers and BSW-level human-service staff include:
- Erie County Office of Children and Youth
- UPMC Hamot and Saint Vincent Hospital
- Erie VA Medical Center
- Safe Harbor Behavioral Health and Stairways Behavioral Health
- Erie’s Public Schools
- U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Erie and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie
An illustrative list of employers known to operate around Erie, not an exhaustive or BLS-sourced one.
Beyond Erie, BLS projects national social worker employment to grow 7% from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations, with healthcare and mental-health settings leading. Pay by role for Erie graduates to compare against is in our salary guides.
Source for Erie: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) for Erie, PA, with projections from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. The medians include every worker in each occupation, so BSW-level pay in Erie usually sits toward the low end of each range.
Who Social Workers Serve in Erie
Erie social workers serve refugee and immigrant families alongside long-established white and Black working-class communities, and residents of surrounding rural townships who travel into the city for services. Language access and cultural responsiveness are part of everyday practice in schools, clinics, and family agencies.
Poverty in parts of the city, behavioral-health and substance-use needs, and an aging population drive much of the local demand. Child welfare through Erie County, hospital social work, school-based services, and behavioral health are among the largest fields, and rural outreach adds a dimension not found in bigger metros.
Field Placements and Agencies Around Erie
Because CSWE requires at least 400 hours of supervised field education, Erie’s compact network of hospitals, county agencies, schools, resettlement organizations, and behavioral-health providers gives BSW students a broad range of placements in a small city.
Gannon University maintains field partnerships across Erie County, and students can choose placements in refugee services, health care, child welfare, or rural outreach. Placements frequently lead to first jobs and support an LBSW application.
Micro Social Work Jobs in Erie
Micro social work, direct practice with individuals and families, is the center of Erie’s BSW job market. Micro roles include resettlement casework, child-welfare investigation and family support, hospital discharge planning, behavioral-health case management, and outreach to rural residents who need help reaching services.
A BSW, and the LBSW that can follow it in Pennsylvania, is the standard qualification for these non-clinical roles. Therapy and diagnosis require a master’s and the LSW or LCSW, so bachelor-level practice in Erie centers on assessment, coordination, and linking people to care.
Can I work in refugee resettlement with a BSW in Erie?
Yes, and Erie is one of the most notable resettlement cities in Pennsylvania for its size. Resettlement agencies, including the local office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie, along with schools and health providers, employ caseworkers and family-support staff to help new arrivals with housing, benefits, schooling, and employment.
BSW graduates in this work learn case management under real pressure and across cultures, and many local roles value second-language skills. It is a meaningful entry point that builds skills transferable to child welfare, health care, and community practice.
Are social workers in demand in Erie?
Erie’s hospitals, county programs, and community agencies hire steadily, and the city’s role as the service hub for a large rural region means social workers are needed both in town and across surrounding counties. Bilingual graduates and those comfortable with rural outreach are especially valued.
Holding the Licensed Bachelor Social Worker (LBSW) widens the jobs open to new graduates, and those who want clinical roles can continue to an MSW, often through Advanced Standing, before pursuing the LSW and LCSW.
Can I get a Social Work license with a BSW in Erie, Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania licenses social workers statewide, so the rules a Erie graduate follows are the state's, taken here from the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) regulatory database as captured in 2026.
Yes. A Erie BSW graduate can apply for Pennsylvania's bachelor-level license (LBSW), and the degree that license is built on is a CSWE-accredited BSW, which is why accreditation carries the most weight in how we rank the programs on this page.
| License | Name | Exam | CSWE BSW required |
|---|---|---|---|
| LBSW | Licensed Bachelor Social Worker | ASWB Bachelors exam | Yes |
From a Erie BSW, the license ladder continues to the master's level (LSW) , and the clinical, independent-practice level (LCSW). A recent BSW from an accredited Erie-area program also opens Advanced Standing admission to a master's.
Common Questions About BSW Programs in Erie
How many CSWE-accredited BSW programs are in Erie?
How much do social workers earn in Erie?
Can I earn a BSW online from Erie?
Do I need a license to work with a BSW in Pennsylvania?
BSW programs in other Pennsylvania cities
Sources
- CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs for the accreditation, campuses, and structure of each Erie-area program.
- U.S. Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer and Population Estimates Program for Erie's coordinates and population.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS (May 2025) for Erie, PA wages; ASWB regulatory database for Pennsylvania license requirements.
This Erie page was published 2026-10-05 and last updated 2026-10-05. "Near" means a campus within 60 straight-line miles of central Erie.