Master of Social Work (MSW): Full Program

Overview

The justice-informed MSW full program option prepares graduate students for advanced, justice-informed, clinical, and professional social work practice and licensure while emphasizing the commitment to the values of social work practice.

In the context of a liberal arts environment and with an ecosystems perspective, students learn how to apply advanced critical thinking skills at micro, mezzo, and macro levels while pursuing human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice in local and global contexts. Its organizational structure is both comprehensive and integrated and gives students a strong base from which to build advanced clinical and justice-informed practice knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive and affective processes. The first year (two semesters) of the full program is based on CSWE's nine generalist competencies and is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in the academic and professional skills necessary for generalist social work practice at the master’s level. The justice-informed curriculum for year two (three semesters) has a clinical focus and is based on nine justice-informed specialized competencies equipping students to practice in clinical settings with the skills necessary to engage in justice-informed macro and systems-level work. The rigorous curriculum meets the Minnesota Board of Social Work's requirements for the clinical content in the six designated areas (differential diagnosis, clinical treatment planning, clinical intervention methods, evaluation methodologies, social work values/ ethics, and culturally specific assessment and intervention) required to sit for the ASWB clinical licensure exam.

Bethel University’s MSW Graduate School curriculum design creates a sequencing of concepts, techniques, and assignments to match the requisite progression of development for social work students. The justice-informed MSW program emphasizes professional, ethical, and clinical practice; practicing with diverse populations; promoting social, racial, economic, and environmental justice; understanding justice-informed agency-based research; social policy-making; and justice-informed practice across individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations. The curriculum also includes an ADEI in Supervision 2-credit course which meets the Minnesota Board of Social Work's requirement for supervision.

Admission Requirements

The Master of Social Work: Full Program will consider applicants who:

Meet the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School.
Submit an official transcript (U.S. schools) or NACES or AICE evaluation (international schools) showing an earned baccalaureate or higher degree and official transcripts or NACES or AICE evaluations from all graduate schools attended.
Have earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from an institutionally accredited (or internationally recognized as equivalent) institution.
Have earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale on the highest degree completed.
Submit three current professional Admission References.
Submit a written Statement of Purpose.
Submit a current resume.
Interview with the program director or enrollment counselor if requested.

Students who have not achieved the minimum GPA, grade standards, or other assessment criteria may still apply to be considered for provisional acceptance. See Admission Categories.

Degree Requirements