Master of Social Work
Social Work

Students seeking admission to the MSW program must demonstrate that they:

• Hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
• Have completed a broad liberal arts background with a minimum of 24 credit hours, including at least one course in sociology, psychology, and statistics. These undergraduate requirements may be taken at any accredited college or university, including community colleges. All prerequisites for admission must be completed prior to admission, except statistics, which must be completed by the end of the first semester in the program. All offers of admission are conditional upon the successful completion of the undergraduate coursework.
• Have earned a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average on the last 120 graded credits that appear on their bachelor's degree transcript, as well as a 3.0 grade point average on the last 60 graded upper-division credits.
• Have submitted transcripts of any completed graduate courses.
• Submit three professional letters of recommendation, usually from persons such as professors, employers, supervisors, professional colleagues, and community associates. Applicants who have been employed in a social service agency should request a recommendation from a recent employer or supervisor. You should provide a recommendation from a faculty advisor or instructor.

To be admitted to the MSW program, you must also complete the additional admission requirements.

Provisional admission to the MSW program may be granted if you have a GPA of 2.5 to 2.99 (2.8 to 2.99 for advanced standing applicants) on the last 120 graded credits that appear on your bachelor's degree transcript and have an otherwise strong application. Provisionally admitted applicants must complete one semester of graduate courses (at least two courses) with a GPA of 3.0.

If you have completed a bachelor's degree in social work from an accredited undergraduate social work program, you may be eligible for the MSW advanced standing program. Advanced standing is a 32 credit program, rather than 62 credit program.

Applicants for advanced standing must meet additional requirements, including having graduated from an undergraduate social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education within the last three years. However, applicants with two years of human service work who graduated within the last five years with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work degree will be considered. Applicants for advanced standing must have earned a minimum 3.0 grade point average on the last 120 credits that appear on their bachelor's degree transcript, as well as a 3.2 on the last 60 graded upper-division credits (including all social work courses). Students without an accredited undergraduate degree in social work are admitted to the regular 62 credit program that may be completed in 10 sessions.

When applying for advanced standing, you must submit the following material in addition to the usual application requirements:

• Transcripts documenting eligibility for advanced standing.
• Recommendation from the field liaison and field instructor.
• A detailed evaluation of your field instruction experience and performance by the agency supervisor or an evaluation of your employment performance. You may submit evaluations of field performance conducted at the end of each undergraduate term.

Under certain circumstances, you may receive a maximum of 29 credits for work completed not more than five years prior to first registration from a CSWE-accredited graduate school of social work and for which a grade of at least a B was received. No course, including any transfer course, may be counted toward a degree if it was completed more than seven full calendar years prior to the date of graduation.

You must complete a minimum of 32 credits in the Salisbury University Department of Social Work to be eligible for the MSW.

If you are currently or were previously enrolled in another accredited master's level social work degree program and are seeking admission as a transfer student, you are required to submit the following additional materials:

1. A brief written statement describing the reasons why you are requesting a transfer.
2. A copy of practicum/field work evaluations, if applicable.
3. One of the three letters of recommendation must be from a faculty member or field supervisor affiliated with the program.

Students from non-MSW programs may receive a maximum of six transfer credits for courses in which he/she has earned a grade of B or above. Each course will be individually assessed for program equivalency. Credits used as part of a previous master's degree will not transfer. Official determination of allowable credit for work completed elsewhere will be made at the time of admission.

If you are registered in the program and want to take a course at another university and transfer credit toward the Salisbury University Department of Social Work MSW (i.e., a summer course), you must receive approval from the chair of the Department of Social Work.

Salisbury University, a member of the University System of Maryland, is an accredited university of national distinction. Home to more than 8,700 students from across the U.S. and around the world, Salisbury University has a reputation for excellence in public higher education. SU continuously ranks among the nation’s top colleges and values according to The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger’s, Money, Forbes, and others.

Located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, this four-year university has 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. SU prides itself on being an institution where individual talents are celebrated while big ideas are encouraged and nurtured.