The MSW program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Full-Time MSW Program students attending on a full-time basis generally complete the program in two academic years. Students from CSWE-accredited undergraduate social work programs may be granted up to one year of advanced standing in the Full-Time Program for comparable coursework taken prior to enrollment.

This is a named option within the Social Work MSW. A broader overview of the School, our MSW Program Goals, the MSW Curriculum, and Field Education can be found on the Social Work MSW Overview page.

You can also review:

• the Learning Outcomes for the MSW Program;
• the MSW Program Accreditation standing and MSW competencies; and,
• more information about Certification and Licensure.

Please consult the table below for key information about this degree program’s admissions requirements. The program may have more detailed admissions requirements, which can be found below the table or on the program’s website.

Graduate admissions is a two-step process between academic programs and the Graduate School. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements of the Graduate School as well as the program(s). Once you have researched the graduate program(s) you are interested in, apply online.

Graduate Admissions Requirements

Requirements	Detail
Fall Deadline	January 10
Spring Deadline	The program does not admit in the spring.
Summer Deadline	The program does not admit in the summer.
GRE (Graduate Record Examinations)	Not required.
English Proficiency Test	Every applicant whose native language is not English or whose undergraduate instruction was not in English must provide an English proficiency test score and meet the Graduate School minimum requirements (https://grad.wisc.edu/apply/requirements/#english-proficiency) and Social Work's higher requirements: TOEFL (iBT): 100 TOEFL (PBT): 600
Other Test(s) (e.g., GMAT, MCAT)	n/a
Letters of Recommendation Required	3

Online applications are available through the School of Social Work website.

Admission into the master's degree program includes the Graduate School requirement that applicants hold a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) on the equivalent of the last 60 semester hours (approximately two years of work) from an accredited university or college.

Applicants apply online through the Graduate School's application site (link found in the instructions on the School of Social Work website). A complete application includes both the Graduate School application and the School of Social Work's supplemental application forms.

Applicants must review the instructions on the School of Social Work website for specific application details and prerequisites.

Graduate School Resources

Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.

MSW Program Resources

Thanks to the generosity of friends and alumni, the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work also has a number of Awards and Scholarships available to MSW applicants and current MSW students, ranging from several hundred dollars to covering the full cost of tuition and fees, as well as training grants and other opportunities that can provide funding for students with specific career interests.

Students also have access to federal loans and work study.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements, in addition to the program requirements listed below.

Named Option Requirements

Mode of Instruction

Mode of Instruction

Face to Face	Evening/Weekend	Online	Hybrid	Accelerated
Yes	No	No	No	No

Mode of Instruction Definitions

Accelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students typically take enough credits aimed at completing the program in a year or two.

Evening/Weekend: ​Courses meet on the UW–Madison campus only in evenings and/or on weekends to accommodate typical business schedules.  Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments.

Face-to-Face: Courses typically meet during weekdays on the UW-Madison Campus.

Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats.  Contact the program for more specific information.

Online: These programs are offered 100% online.  Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format.

CURRICULAR REQUIREMENTS

University General Education Requirements

Requirements	Detail
Minimum Credit Requirement	30 credits
Minimum Residence Credit Requirement	16 credits
Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement	15 credits must be graduate-level coursework. Details can be found in the Graduate School’s Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) policy (https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1244).
Overall Graduate GPA Requirement	3.00 GPA required. This program follows the Graduate School's GPA Requirement policy (https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1203).
Other Grade Requirements	Grades of C are accepted only if they are offset by an equal number of credits of A. Candidates who receive more than two grades of C (in courses that do not extend beyond one term) or a grade of D or F while in the program will be dropped from the MSW Program. Candidates who receive a grade of C in the Field and Integrative Seminar courses may continue only with permission of the faculty and may not offset the grade with a grade of A. (This policy does not apply to grades received for courses taken to meet the statistics prerequisite while in the program).
Assessments and Examinations	None.
Language Requirements	None.

Required Courses

Generalist Practice

First-year MSW students complete generalist practice courses unless granted an exemption:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
SOC WORK 400	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar I	4
SOC WORK 401	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar II	4
SOC WORK 441	Generalist Practice with Individuals, Families and Groups	3
SOC WORK 442	Generalist Practice with Communities and Organizations	2
SOC WORK 605	The Field of Social Work	2
SOC WORK 606	Social Policy	2
SOC WORK 612	Psychopathology in Generalist Social Work Practice	2
SOC WORK 650	Methods of Social Work Research	3
SOC WORK 710	Diversity, Oppression and Social Justice in Social Work	2
SOC WORK 711	Human Behavior and the Environment	2

Generalist practice courses must be completed before beginning advanced practice courses.

Advanced Generalist Specialization

In a broad social justice framework, advanced practice or advanced standing MSW students complete an advanced generalist practice specialization. Students may choose one of four focus areas: (1) Aging; (2) Child, Youth, and Family Welfare; (3) Health; and (4) Mental Health. Students complete an Advanced Practice class in a focus area, a Policies & Services class in a focus area, a sequence of Field Practice in a focus area, Advanced Macro Practice, and three "free electives" chosen in consultation with an advisor. Students may also choose to complete their advanced generalist practice specialization with no focus area, and still complete Advanced Practice, Policies & Services, and Field Practice courses that are based within focus areas, in addition to Advanced Macro Practice and three "free electives" chosen in consultation with an advisor.

Advanced Generalist Specialization Focus in Aging¹

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses
SOC WORK 800	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar III	5
SOC WORK 801	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar IV	6
SOC WORK 821	Social Work Practice in Aging and Mental Health	2
SOC WORK 875	Health, Aging, and Disability Policy and Services	2
SOC WORK 840	Advanced Macro Practice	2
Three free electives from the list below chosen in consultation with advisor.

¹

These tracks are internal to the program and represent different pathways a student can follow to earn this degree. Track names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.

Advanced Generalist Specialization Focus in Children, Youth and Families¹

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses
SOC WORK 800	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar III	5
SOC WORK 801	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar IV	6
SOC WORK 741	Interventions with Children, Youth, and Families	2
SOC WORK 920	Child, Youth, and Family Policies and Services	2
or SOC WORK 921	Child Welfare
SOC WORK 840	Advanced Macro Practice	2
Three free electives from the list below chosen in consultation with advisor.

¹

These tracks are internal to the program and represent different pathways a student can follow to earn this degree. Track names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.

Advanced Generalist Specialization Focus in Health¹

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses
SOC WORK 800	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar III	5
SOC WORK 801	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar IV	6
SOC WORK 873	Social Work Practice in Health Care	2
SOC WORK 875	Health, Aging, and Disability Policy and Services	2
SOC WORK 840	Advanced Macro Practice	2
Three free electives from the list below chosen in consultation with advisor.

¹

These tracks are internal to the program and represent different pathways a student can follow to earn this degree. Track names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.

Advanced Generalist Specialization Focus in Mental Health¹

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses
SOC WORK 800	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar III	5
SOC WORK 801	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar IV	6
SOC WORK 835	Advanced Soc Work Practice in Mental Health	2
SOC WORK 836	Mental Health Policies and Services	2
SOC WORK 840	Advanced Macro Practice	2
Three free electives from the list below chosen in consultation with advisor.

¹

These tracks are internal to the program and represent different pathways a student can follow to earn this degree. Track names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.

No Focus Area¹

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Advanced Practice (choose one)
SOC WORK 741	Interventions with Children, Youth, and Families	2
or SOC WORK 821	Social Work Practice in Aging and Mental Health
or SOC WORK 835	Advanced Soc Work Practice in Mental Health
or SOC WORK 873	Social Work Practice in Health Care
Policies & Services (choose one)
SOC WORK 836	Mental Health Policies and Services	2
or SOC WORK 875	Health, Aging, and Disability Policy and Services
or SOC WORK 920	Child, Youth, and Family Policies and Services
or SOC WORK 921	Child Welfare
Advanced Macro Practice
SOC WORK 840	Advanced Macro Practice	2
Advanced Practice Field 2
SOC WORK 800	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar III	5
SOC WORK 801	Field Practice and Integrative Seminar IV	6
Three free electives from the list below chosen in consultation with advisor.

¹

These tracks are internal to the program and represent different pathways a student can follow to earn this degree. Track names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript.

²

Students opting for no focus area will be placed in a field unit by the Director of Field Education.

Free Electives

Electives may chosen from this list in consultation with an advisor. The Specialization Handbook has suggested electives for focus areas and select sub-focuses. Not all electives are offered in a given year or semester. Courses outside of the department may substitute for a course on this Free Electives list in consultation with an advisor.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
SOC WORK 624	Social Work with the Small Group	2
SOC WORK 626	Social Work with the Community	2
SOC WORK 627	Sex Trafficking and Sex Trading	2
SOC WORK/​AMER IND  636	Social Work in American Indian Communities: The Indian Child Welfare Act	3
SOC WORK 639	Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Individuals and Social Welfare	2
SOC WORK 642	Social Work and Adolescents	2
SOC WORK 643	Social Work and Delinquency	2
SOC WORK 644	Issues in Developmental Disabilities	3
SOC WORK 646	Child Abuse and Neglect	2
SOC WORK 648	Palliative and End-of-Life Care Social Work Practice	2
SOC WORK 656	Family Practice in Foster and Kinship Care	2
SOC WORK 659	International Aspects of Social Work	2
SOC WORK 661	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 662	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 663	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 664	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 665	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 672	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 673	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 674	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 675	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 676	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 679	Topics in Contemporary Social Welfare	2-3
SOC WORK 712	Psychopathology for Social Work Practice in Mental Health	3
SOC WORK/​URB R PL  721	Methods of Planning Analysis	3
SOC WORK 741	Interventions with Children, Youth, and Families 1	2
SOC WORK 742	Assessing and Treating Children and Adolescents	2
SOC WORK/​NURSING/​PHM PRAC  746	Interdisciplinary Care of Children with Special Health Care Needs	3
SOC WORK 817	Social Work Practice in Schools II (only for School Social Work students)	2
SOC WORK 821	Social Work Practice in Aging and Mental Health 1	2
SOC WORK/​LAW  822	Family Law: Marriage and Divorce	2-4
SOC WORK/​LAW  823	Family Law: Parent and Child	3-4
SOC WORK 825	Grief, Death, Loss and Life	2
SOC WORK 835	Advanced Soc Work Practice in Mental Health 1	2
SOC WORK 836	Mental Health Policies and Services 1	2
SOC WORK 842	Consultation and Supervision in Social Work	2
SOC WORK 852	Influencing Political Systems for Social Change	2
SOC WORK 854	Crises Intervention in Social Work	2
SOC WORK 860	Recent Developments in Social Work	2-3
SOC WORK 861	Recent Developments in Social Work	2-3
SOC WORK 862	Recent Developments in Social Work	2-3
SOC WORK 863	Recent Developments in Social Work	2-3
SOC WORK 869	Recent Developments in Social Work	2-3
SOC WORK 870	Cognitive and Behavioral Mental Health Treatments for Adults	2
SOC WORK 873	Social Work Practice in Health Care 1	2
SOC WORK 875	Health, Aging, and Disability Policy and Services 1	2
SOC WORK/​ED PSYCH/​HDFS/​NURSING  880	Prevention Science	3
SOC WORK/​PUB AFFR  887	Nonprofit Leadership	3
SOC WORK 920	Child, Youth, and Family Policies and Services 1	2
SOC WORK 921	Child Welfare 1	2
SOC WORK 923	Family Violence	2
SOC WORK 924	Family Problems and Social Work	2
SOC WORK 929	Social Work and Substance Use Disorders	2

¹

These courses can count as either an Advanced Practice/Policies & Services course, or a free elective. Taking additional Advanced Practice/Policies & Services courses as electives should only be done in careful consultation with an advisor, and can only be taken in the advanced practice year.

Graduate School Policies

The Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures provide essential information regarding general university policies. Program authority to set degree policies beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School lies with the degree program faculty. Policies set by the academic degree program can be found below.

Named Option-Specific Policies

Prior Coursework

Graduate Work from Other Institutions

Graduate credits in equivalent foundation/generalist courses completed with a grade of B or better taken at CSWE-accredited MSW programs may be used to fulfill the Minimum Degree Credit Requirement. In general, coursework earned five or more years prior to admission to the MSW Program may not be used to satisfy degree credit minimums. Graduate credits from other MSW programs/institutions may not be used to fulfill the Minimum Residence Credit Requirement.

UW–Madison Undergraduate 

UW–Madison BSWs may count only those courses numbered 300 or above toward their minimum graduate degree credit requirement. Coursework earned five or more years prior to admission to the MSW program may not be used to satisfy credit requirements.

Undergraduate Work from Other Institutions

MSW students who have received BSWs from CSWE accredited programs may count 7 credits of their undergraduate coursework in the BSW program.

UW–Madison University Special

On a case-by-case basis Generalist Social Work courses numbered 300 or above taken as a UW–Madison Special student may be used to fulfill degree requirements. No more than 15 generalist credits may be used for this purpose.

ProbatioN

This program follows the Graduate School's Probation policy.

MSW Satisfactory Progress Criteria

Graduate students are required to maintain and graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.00.

Grades of “C” are accepted only if offset by an equal number of credits of grades of A. Students who receive more than two grades of C or a grade of D or F will be dropped from the MSW Program.  (This policy does not apply to grades received for courses taken to meet the Statistic prerequisite while in the program but will affect the GPA).

Students who receive a grade of C in the Field and Integrative Seminar courses may continue only with permission of the faculty and may not offset the grade with a grade of A. Refer to the Field Education Handbook (found on the Social Work Student Resources site) for more details about grades in Field.

ADVISOR / COMMITTEE

All master's candidates are assigned to the social work academic advisors.

CREDITS PER TERM ALLOWED

15 credits

Time Limits

Full-Time Program students matriculating through the Full-Time MSW program on a part-time basis must enroll in a minimum of two courses each semester and complete one full-time semester of at least 8 credits. Candidates who withdraw from the Full-Time Program without having completed at least 8 credits must reapply for admission to the program. Students who withdraw from the Part-Time MSW Program without having completed at least 6 credits must reapply for admission to the Part-Time Program.

Master's degree students who have been absent for five or more consecutive years lose all credits that they have earned before their absence. Individual programs may count the coursework students completed prior to their absence for meeting program requirements; that coursework may not count toward Graduate School credit requirements.

Grievances and Appeals

These resources may be helpful in addressing your concerns:

• Bias or Hate Reporting  
• Graduate Assistantship Policies and Procedures
• Hostile and Intimidating Behavior Policies and Procedures
  • Office of the Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs
• Dean of Students Office (for all students to seek grievance assistance and support)
• Employee Assistance (for personal counseling and workplace consultation around communication and conflict involving graduate assistants and other employees, post-doctoral students, faculty and staff)
• Employee Disability Resource Office (for qualified employees or applicants with disabilities to have equal employment opportunities)
• Graduate School (for informal advice at any level of review and for official appeals of program/departmental or school/college grievance decisions)
• Office of Compliance (for class harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual violence)
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (for conflicts involving students)
• Ombuds Office for Faculty and Staff (for employed graduate students and post-docs, as well as faculty and staff)
• Title IX (for concerns about discrimination)

Students should contact the department chair or program director with questions about grievances. They may also contact the L&S Academic Divisional Associate Deans, the L&S Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning Administration, or the L&S Director of Human Resources.

 Other

n/a

Graduate School Resources

Take advantage of the Graduate School's professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career. 

program resources

MSW students can also take advantage of the College of Letters & Sciences SuccessWorks services, including their Canvas modules on jobs and internships.

Professors: Lawrence M. Berger, MSW, Ph.D.; Marah H. Curtis, MSW, Ph.D.; Katherine Magnuson, Ph.D.; Stephanie A. Robert, MSW, Ph.D. (School director); Tracy Schroepfer, MSW, Ph.D., Kristen Slack, A.M., Ph.D.

Associate Professors: Lauren Bishop, Ph.D.; Tally Moses, MSW, Ph.D.; Tova Walsh, MSW, Ph.D.; Marci Ybarra, MSW, Ph.D.

Assistant Professors: Pajarita Charles, MPA, MSW, Ph.D.; Lara Gerassi, MSW, Ph.D.; LB Klein, MSW, Ph.D.; Jooyoung Kong, MSW, Ph.D.; Jessica Pac, Ph.D.; Weidi Qin, MSW, MPH, Ph.D.; Alejandra Ros Pilarz, Ph.D.; Tawandra Rowell-Cunsolo, Ph.D.

Clinical Professor: Audrey Conn, MSSW, APSW; Ellen Smith, MSSW

Clinical Associate Professors: Laura Dresser, MSW, Ph.D.; Alice Egan, MSSW, APSW; Amanda Ngola, MSW, LCSW; Lynette Studer, MSSW, Ph.D.; Angela Willits, MSW, LCSW

A complete list of all faculty and staff in the school is available on the School of Social Work Directory.