Purpose: To better understand the current salaries and student loan debt levels among oncology social workers (OSWs).
Design: Cross-sectional study using online survey.
Sample: OSWs across a variety of cancer care settings in the U.S. (n = 1055).
Methods: Salary and debt were collected via single ordinal variables. Crosstabs and chi-square tests were used to examine whether salary and debt differ by demographic and work-related characteristics.
Findings: Median OSW salaries ranged from $60,001 to $70,000. Three-fourths of OSWs reported having student loan debt. Younger and recently graduated OSWs and OSWs of color were more likely to have greater student loan debt than their counterparts.
Conclusions: Relative low salary and debt burden have important implications for securing a current and future OSW workforce.
Implications for psychosocial policy: Adequate reimbursement and loan repayment opportunities for frontline OSWs will better secure this workforce. Advocacy efforts to identify OSWs qualified for loan forgiveness programs are warranted.
Keywords: loan forgiveness programs; oncology social worker; salary; student loan debt; survey; workforce.