Skip to content
Contact USI

The Master of Social Work program requires applicants have a bachelor's degree from a regionally or comparably accredited institution. Applicants with an undergraduate degree other than a Bachelor of Social Work should apply to the two-year full-time track.

Admission to the Master of Social Work program requires:

  • Admission to Graduate Studies;
  • Earned bachelor degree from an accredited college/university before starting the program;
  • A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all undergraduate course work attempted or a 3.0 GPA for the last 60 semester hours;
  • Evidence of writing skills compatible with graduate-level standards;
  • Evidence of potential to develop into a solid graduate-level professional social worker. A personal interview and/or additional evaluative data may be required of applicants;
  • Prerequisites: Applicants must complete prerequisite courses with a grade of C or better. Minimum of 24 hours (eight courses) of social/behavioral sciences:
    • Introduction to psychology course or its equivalent;
    • Introduction to sociology course or its equivalent
    • Social work, psychology, sociology or other social science research methods course;
    • Social work, psychology, sociology or other social science statistics course;
    • Four courses from any of the following disciplines: social work, psychology, anthropology, sociology, criminal justice, gender studies, political science or economics.
  • Prerequisite course content older than 10 years may be considered upon review.

    Students transferring from other graduate programs must submit an Evidence of Good Standing Verification Form, available from the Social Work Department. Students may transfer, with approval, up to 12 graduate credit hours.

    The MSW Program does not grant academic credit for life or work experience in lieu of social work course or field content.

  • International students are required to have a score of 550 on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 79 on the Internet-based TOEFL or 6 on the IELTS (International Language Testing System).