You want to make a difference. You’re the kind of person who lives to help. Here, you will understand the human experience at the intersection of diversity, human rights, culture, and ethics. At Saint Mary’s College, we firmly believe in an approach to social work that aligns with four core values: learning, community, faith/spirituality, and justice. You will be pushed to take what you learn in the classroom and apply it to your professional practice as you strive for social and economic justice in society. 

Learn to Make a Difference

As a student in our MSW program, open to both men and women, you will work toward creating a culture of human dignity, inclusivity, solidarity, and sustainability while preparing for a professional career. This Master of Social Work program will prepare you to work in a clinical setting and offers an optional emphasis in aging. Your education here will provide you with research opportunities regarding inclusivity, diversity, and equity, all while providing you with the full course and fieldwork necessary to obtain an MSW. 

Engage in the Field 

Your education in Social Work doesn’t stop in the classroom; while at Saint Mary’s, your faculty will help match you with a field placement in your community. In fact, you’ll be working in the field every semester alongside your online coursework. As you narrow your focus down to a concentration in your second year, your field placement will change to ensure you are getting the most relevant and specific experience possible as you work toward graduation and your eventual career as a Social Worker. 

Be Part of a Team

At Saint Mary’s, you will work alongside graduate students in Nursing, Speech Language Pathology, and Autism Studies; in short, alongside other graduate students who want to make a difference. Inter-professionalism will be a part of your career after you leave Saint Mary’s and it will be part of your experience as a Saint Mary’s student. In our Social Work program, you will benefit from the wealth of inter-professional knowledge all of our faculty and students across different disciplines bring to the table.

Accreditation

Saint Mary’s College has achieved candidacy for accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Board of Accreditation (BOA).

Candidacy for a baccalaureate or master’s social work program by the BOA indicates that it has made progress toward meeting standards of program quality evaluated through a peer review accreditation process. A program that has attained candidacy status has demonstrated a commitment to meeting the standards set by the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) but has not yet demonstrated full compliance.

Students that are admitted to candidate programs in the fall (or later) of the academic year in which the program is granted candidacy status will be retroactively recognized as graduates from a CSWE-BOA accredited program as long as the program attains initial accreditation. Candidacy is typically a 3-year process and attaining candidacy does not guarantee that a program will eventually attain initial accreditation.

Candidacy applies to all program options, which includes locations and delivery methods.

Accreditation provides reasonable assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program.

Review our program’s candidacy status in CSWE’s Directory of Accredited Programs. For more information about social work accreditation, contact CSWE’s Department of Social Work Accreditation.

The Saint Mary's College MSW Program achieved candidacy under the new 2022 CSWE EPAS (Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards) that address nine competencies, including a competency regarding antiracism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and another addressing advancing human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. With a clinical social work specialization focusing on clinical social work and mental health practice skills, and adding social policy advocacy and research/evaluation skills to support positive mental health, the Saint Mary's College MSW Program is poised and ready to help students meet the demands of a changing world.