Admissions
The University of Southern Indiana's Master of Social Work Admission Committee begins accepting applications each year on September 1.
Non-BSW/Traditional and Advanced Standing Part-time students are admitted for the Fall semester. Advanced Standing Full-time students are admitted for the Summer semester.
Each year, the application deadline for Advanced Standing Full-time admission (i.e. those with a Bachelor of Social Work degree) occurs on the second Friday of January; the application deadline for non-BSW (i.e., those without a Bachelor of Social Work degree), Advance Standing Part-time and program readmission occurs on the second Friday of April.
Click on the button below for a dropdown of information.
The Master of Social Work program requires applicants have a bachelor's degree from a regionally or comparably accredited institution. Applicants with an undergraduate degree other than a Bachelor of Social Work should apply to the two-year full-time track.
Admission to the Master of Social Work program requires:
- Admission to Graduate Studies;
- Earned bachelor degree from an accredited college/university before starting the program;
- A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all undergraduate course work attempted or a 3.0 GPA for the last 60 semester hours;
- Evidence of writing skills compatible with graduate-level standards;
- Evidence of potential to develop into a solid graduate-level professional social worker. A personal interview and/or additional evaluative data may be required of applicants;
- Prerequisites: Applicants must complete prerequisite courses with a grade of C or better. Minimum of 24 hours (eight courses) of social/behavioral sciences:
- Introduction to psychology course or its equivalent;
- Introduction to sociology course or its equivalent
- Social work, psychology, sociology or other social science research methods course;
- Social work, psychology, sociology or other social science statistics course;
- Four courses from any of the following disciplines: social work, psychology, anthropology, sociology, criminal justice, gender studies, political science or economics.
-
Prerequisite course content older than 10 years may be considered upon review.
Students transferring from other graduate programs must submit an Evidence of Good Standing Verification Form, available from the Social Work Department. Students may transfer, with approval, up to 12 graduate credit hours.
The MSW Program does not grant academic credit for life or work experience in lieu of social work course or field content.
-
International students are required to have a score of 550 on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 79 on the Internet-based TOEFL or 6 on the IELTS (International Language Testing System).
Students who have earned undergraduate degrees in social work from programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education may be eligible for advanced standing. To be considered, they must have met the requirements listed above, and the following additional requirements must be met:
- Graduation within the last five years, longer periods considered on a case-by-case basis;
- Satisfactory completion of a 400-hour generalist field placement in direct practice with individuals, families, groups, and communities under appropriate social work supervision.
- Advanced standing students will have transcripts and/or program content evaluated to determine if foundation content has been met. Students may be required to present copies of course descriptions, course syllabi, and/or assignments in order to document that appropriate content has been covered in the previous course of study.
To get started, complete the following four steps:
- Resume/CV
As part of the application, you will be required to upload your resume/CV as a PDF file. The resume/CV file name should be Lastname-firstname-resume.pdf (ex. Smith-Joe-resume.pdf).Your resume/cv should include the following information:
- All college/universities attended, starting with the most recent, and include the name of the institution, dates attended, and degree(s) awarded. If no degree was awarded, please state such.
- Employment history, starting with the most recent, and include name of organization, location (city and state), a brief description of duties and dates of employment.
- Field/Internship experiences, starting with the most recent, and include name of organization, location (city and state), a brief description of duties and dates of employment.
- Relevant volunteer activities, starting with the most recent, and include name of organization, location (city and state), a brief description of duties and dates of employment.
- As part of the application, you will be required to upload your resume/CV as a PDF file. The resume/CV file name should be Lastname-firstname-resume.pdf (ex. Smith-Joe-resume.pdf)
- Personal Statement/Narrative
Answer the following questions as an opportunity to describe yourself, and the qualities beyond academic grades that make you ideally suited to be a Clinical Social Worker. Responses should be thoughtful, honest, yet professional, and should demonstrate excellent writing skills, critical thinking, insightfulness, and self-awareness. Be comprehensive, yet succinct in your response and use examples from your life experiences.
- Life Experience - Describe events and life experiences that have informed your choice to pursue a Master of Social Work degree and a career in Social Work.
- Values - Describe the ways that your personal values, beliefs, and interests are congruent with the mission and philosophy of social work.
- Diversity - Think about situation(s) when you had to deal with differences in age, race, disability, ethnicity, gender, religious and/or sexual orientation. Based on your experience, how do you plan to work with diverse and vulnerable people?
- Additional Experiences - What experiences have allowed you to develop the skills necessary to be an effective social worker?
- Summary - Provide a final summary of your statement, highlighting what you consider to be the most important points for the admission committee to know about your application to the MSW Program.
- Professional References
- You will be required to provide three professional references including name, email and phone number. An email will be sent to each of these individuals upon submission of this application requesting a reference.
- Official electronic transcripts are preferred and can be emailed from the previous institution to Graduate.Studies@usi.edu
- Mailed transcripts can be sent to this address:
Graduate Studies
University of Southern Indiana
8600 University Blvd.
Evansville, IN 47712
MSW Admission Application
It is the applicant's responsibility to provide all required materials to the Social Work Department by the application deadline. Applications are reviewed when all materials have been received by the Social Work Department MSW Admissions Committee.
Admission decisions for the Master of Social Work (MSW) Program are based upon:
- A review of past academic performance;
- Relevant work and/or volunteer experience;
- Letters of recommendation;
- A personal statement;
- An admission interview (when required).
Indiana Public Law 11-1994 and MSW Admission
In order to fully comply with Indiana Public Law 11-1994 (conviction of sexual offenses against children), the Social Work Department will conduct a criminal history check of students requesting admission to the Master of Social Work program. This check will be conducted at the point of admission and upon entering the field placement. A student who has been convicted of sex offenses against children as identified in P.L. 11-1994 will not be granted admission to or allowed to continue in the Master of Social Work program.
Individuals who were convicted of such crimes outside of the state of Indiana are required to report their intent to reside more than seven days in the area within Indiana to local law enforcement authorities having jurisdiction in the area of intended residence.
