Master of Social Work (Traditional Entry)
About This Program
The MSW curriculum provides students with a generalist perspective in the foundation curriculum and allows students to specialize in one of five practice areas through the specialized curriculum. Students must complete required foundation courses prior to taking most specialty courses. Students in the specialty curriculum select one specialty area: Aging, Children and Families, Community and Administrative Practice, Health, or Mental Health and Substance Misuse.
Competencies
- Upon completion, students will be able to demonstrate ethical and professional behavior.
- Upon completion, students will be able to engage diversity and difference in practice.
- Upon completion, students will be able to advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
- Upon completion, students will be able to engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
- Upon completion, students will be able to engage in policy practice.
- Upon completion, students will be able to engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Upon completion, students will be able to assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Upon completion, students will be able to intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Upon completion, students will be able to evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
Admissions Criteria
Please contact the MSW Admissions Office (sswadmissions@uta.edu) to obtain the complete application checklist and information concerning specific application deadlines. Applicants may also visit the MSW Admissions webpage for more information. Students are admitted to the traditional MSW program for Fall or Spring semester. The admissions process is the same for all MSW programs, including online programs.
*Please note that the School of Social Work’s deadline for application is different from the published deadlines of the Graduate School.
There are two methods for application to the MSW Program: the Quick Admissions Process, and the Traditional Admissions Process.
Quick Admissions
This process awards the bachelor-level applicant who has earned a 3.0 or better GPA in the last 60 hours of their undergraduate degree program a head start by requiring only a two-step process. In step 1, the applicant submits the online application. In step 2, the applicant must submit all official transcripts to the Office of Admissions, Records, and Registration. Once all transcripts have been received and evaluated, students whose GPA is 3.0 or better are generally admitted to the Master of Social Work Program.
Traditional Admissions
In the second admission method, applicants deemed ineligible for Quick Admission to the MSW program (based on the 3.0 GPA requirement) will be considered via the Traditional Admission Process for the traditional program only. Traditional Admission includes, but is not limited to the satisfactory presence of the following six qualifications:
- Possession of a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university or its equivalent, with a satisfactory GPA of 2.7 or higher.
- Submission of three letters of reference indicating professional or academic promise.
- Submission of a narrative essay of three double-spaced pages or less that responds to the following prompt: Social work practice is often classified as either micro or macro. Explain what is meant by micro practice and macro practice, and why addressing both micro and macro issues is essential to effective social work practice. Use three outside sources to support your statement and include complete citations for each.
- Submission of GRE test scores.
- For applicants whose native language is not English, submission of a score of at least 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or a minimum TOEFL iBT total score of 79 with sectional scores that meet or exceed the following:
- 22 for the writing section
- 21 for the speaking section
- 20 for the reading section
- 16 for the listening section
Transfer of Credit
Transfer credits for graduate level social work courses may, at the discretion of the MSW Program Director, be accepted by the School of Social Work from comparable coursework taken and passed with a grade of ‘B’ or better at another Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited program within the last six years. Transfer credits for graduate level course work in related fields may, at the discretion of the MSW Program Director, be accepted by the School of Social Work if comparable to required coursework for the MSW; such courses must have been taken and passed with a grade of ‘B’ or better within the last six years. Students may be expected to provide syllabi for review. No credit is given for life or work experience.
Financial Aid
Scholarships are awarded annually and administered by the School of Social Work. For information about scholarships available through the School of Social Work, please visit https://www.uta.edu/ssw/student-resources/scholarships.
A limited number of traineeships are available through the Center for Child Welfare's Title IV-E Program.
Graduate Fellowships
Candidates for fellowship awards must have a GPA of 3.0 in their last 60 undergraduate credit hours and in any graduate credit hours, and must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 hours in both long semesters to retain their fellowships.
Curriculum
For students without a BSW and advanced standing, the program leading to the Master of Social Work requires the completion of 61 semester hours of graduate work including class and field instruction, as well as thesis or integrative seminar (non-thesis option).
| Foundations | ||
| SOCW 5301 | HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT | 3 |
| SOCW 5304 | GENERALIST MICRO PRACTICE | 3 |
| SOCW 5306 | GENERALIST MACRO PRACTICE | 3 |
| SOCW 5303 | FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL POLICY AND SERVICES | 3 |
| SOCW 5307 | DIVERSE POPULATIONS | 3 |
| SOCW 5308 | RESEARCH AND EVALUATION METHODS IN SOCIAL WORK I | 3 |
| SOCW 5581 | FOUNDATION PRACTICUM SPLIT I (or SOCW 5585 Foundation Field Block I) | 5 |
| SOCW 5381 | FOUNDATION FIELD SPLIT II (or SOCW 5385 Foundation Field Block II) | 3 |
| Specialty (Choose one Specialty) | ||
| Aging, Children & Families (CF), Community & Administrative Practice (CAP), Health, or Mental Health & Substance Misuse (MHSM) | 6 | |
| ADVANCED MICRO PRACTICE (Not required of CAP Specialty ) | ||
| RESEARCH AND EVALUATION METHODS IN SOCIAL WORK II (or SOCW 5323 PROGRAM EVALUATION) | ||
or SOCW 5323 | PROGRAM EVALUATION | |
| Aging | 6 | |
| DIRECT PRACTICE WITH AGING | ||
| AGING AND SOCIAL POLICY | ||
| Children & Families | 6 | |
| DIRECT PRACTICE WITH CHILDREN AND FAMILIES | ||
| SOCIAL POLICY FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH | ||
| Health | 6 | |
| DIRECT PRACTICE IN HEALTH CARE | ||
| HEALTH POLICY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE | ||
| Mental Health & Substance Misuse | 9 | |
| DIRECT PRACTICE IN MENTAL HEALTH | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF SUBSTANCE MISUSE TREATMENT | ||
| SOCIAL POLICY AND MENTAL HEALTH | ||
| Community & Administrative Practice | 18 | |
| COMMUNITY AND ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE | ||
| HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN MACRO ENVIRONMENTS | ||
| ADVANCED COMMUNITY PRACTICE | ||
| ADVANCED ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE | ||
| PROGRAM EVALUATION | ||
| ADVOCACY AND SOCIAL POLICY | ||
| Integrated Theory and Practice Courses | ||
| For Aging, Children & Families, Health, and Mental Health & Substance Misuse specialties, select two of the following integrated theory and practice courses: | 6 | |
| INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE | ||
| STRESS, CRISIS, AND COPING | ||
| DEATH & DYING | ||
| BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR | ||
| PALLIATIVE CARE | ||
| SUICIDE PREVENTION, INTERVENTION, & POSTVENTION | ||
| Electives Required by Specialty | ||
| For Aging or Health two of the following (thesis students select one): | 6 | |
| FAMILY CAREGIVING & AGING | ||
| AGING IN AMERICAN SOCIETY | ||
| HEALTH INSURANCE AND ACCESS TO CARE | ||
| SPECIAL TOPICS IN HEALTH EQUITY | ||
| For Children & Families select two of the following (thesis students select one): | 6 | |
| CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF CHILD MALTREATMENT | ||
| SEMINAR IN WOMEN'S ISSUES | ||
| TREATING PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS | ||
| SEMINAR IN DIRECT METHODS IN COUPLES COUNSELING | ||
| SEMINAR IN FAMILY THERAPY | ||
| SOCIAL WORK IN SCHOOLS | ||
| INEQUITIES AND INCARCERATION | ||
| For Mental Health & Substance Misuse non-thesis students only select one of the following: | 3 | |
| MILITARY SOCIAL WORK | ||
| SEMINAR IN COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION STRATEGIES | ||
| GROUP DYNAMICS AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE | ||
| TREATMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS | ||
| MILITARY FAMILIES | ||
| TREATMENT OF MILITARY POPULATIONS | ||
| MILITARY TRAUMA | ||
| For Community & Administrative Practice select two of the following (thesis students select one): | 6 | |
| ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE & GREEN SOCIAL WORK | ||
| SOCIAL WORK SUPERVISION | ||
| BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT | ||
| GRANT PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR | ||
| SELECTED TOPICS IN SOCIAL WELFARE | ||
| Field (All Specialties) | ||
| SOCW 5482 | ADVANCED PRACTICUM SPLIT I (or SOCW 5485 Advanced Field Block I) | 4 |
| SOCW 5483 | ADVANCED PRACTICUM SPLIT II (Or SOCW 5486 Advanced Field Block II) | 4 |
| Capstone or Thesis (All Specialties) | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| INTEGRATIVE SEMINAR | ||
| THESIS (and SOCW 5396 as an elective) | ||
| Total Hours | 61 | |
Program Completion
In addition to the general graduate admission requirements of the University, each graduate student in the social work program must:
- maintain at least a B (3.0) overall GPA in all coursework;
- demonstrate suitability for professional social work practice; and,
- demonstrate knowledge of and adherence to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers, the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners Code of Conduct (section 781.301), and the UTA School of Social Work Professional Standards in their professional practice and in their coursework.
Advising Resources
Please read all student emails carefully and review the frequently asked questions. These resources are intended to provide help when you need it. If you want to meet with your advisor, please sign up for an appointment as early in the semester as possible.
Location:
SWSH 131, 501 W. Mitchell St., Arlington, TX 76019
Email:
ssw-oass@uta.edu
Phone:
817-272-3687