Bachelor of Social Work or BA/BS in Social Welfare

Program Overview

The School of Social Work offers two majors: social welfare and social work (BSW). These majors prepare the student for further academic study or for employment in selected human service arenas. The social welfare major offers an overview of pressing, current social problems; the social work major specifically prepares students as beginning-level professional social workers.

The undergraduate curriculum provides an education in the social and behavioral sciences and their application to human problems. Majors in social welfare and social work receive a liberal arts education that prepares them to be informed citizens involved in human services or social welfare problems and policies. Majors take courses in a variety of social sciences to enable them to view social welfare in its broad social, economic, and political contexts.

About the Majors

All undergraduate students in good standing are eligible to fulfill the requirements for the Social Welfare major. Sophomores need to be enrolled in or have taken SW 205 and SW 206 to declare the major, see the L&S Undergraduate Catalog.

The social work major leads to the BSW degree.  Each year approximately 30 students are accepted into the major.  To be admitted to the social work major, students must apply in the February prior to their last year in school. Generally those who are admitted have excellent grades and meet the eligibility criteria below:

• have completed Social Work 205, 206
• have completed or concurrent enrollment in statistics
• be second-semester juniors (for registration purposes)
• have a minimum 2.5 overall GPA from all colleges attended

Curriculum and Major Requirements

Click HERE to see each major's course requirements at-a-glance.

Click HERE to view the approved Social Science Concentration Courses for social welfare majors and bachelor of social work students.

Click L&S Undergraduate Catalog for requirement details, undergraduate curriculum, and course descriptions.