Master of Social Work (MSW) Programs in Georgia - Campus and Online

The state of Georgia is home to seven universities that offer Master of Social Work (MSW) degree programs: Albany State University; Clark Atlanta University (CAU); Georgia State University; Kennesaw State University (KSU); Savannah State University; the University of Georgia (UGA); and Valdosta State University (VSU). Among the programs offered by these schools are campus-based and hybrid online programs that require a significant number of campus visits, as well as two fully online program options, one offered by Albany State University and the other by UGA.

All seven of the universities in Georgia that have MSW programs offer at least one traditional program, and six of the seven universities offer advanced standing programs. Programs for traditional students require applicants to hold a bachelor’s degree but do not require applicants to have majored in social work. Advanced standing programs restrict admissions to only those applicants who hold a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree from an undergraduate program that is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

Students who are interested in earning an MSW degree in the state of Georgia can choose from programs that provide training and instruction in clinical practice and/or community/macro practice social work. Each of the seven Georgia universities that offer MSW programs have full accreditation from the CSWE, as detailed in the list below:

• Albany State University (Accredited)
• Clark Atlanta University (Accredited)
• Georgia State University (Accredited)
• Kennesaw State University (Accredited)
• Savannah State University (Accredited)
• University of Georgia (Accredited)
• Valdosta State University (Accredited)

Additional details about MSW programs offered by the above schools are provided in the following sections:

• Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in Georgia
• Traditional Online MSW Programs in Georgia
• Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in Georgia
• Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs in Georgia
• Directory of All MSW Programs in Georgia

Traditional MSW Programs in Georgia

Seven Georgia universities offer traditional MSW programs. These are CSWE-accredited master’s programs that provide advanced training and instruction in social work. This training includes a minimum of 900 hours of field education, site-based experiential learning that is a signature pedagogy of social work education and that is required for CSWE accreditation. Applicants to traditional MSW programs must meet various admissions requirements, which vary by school and by program. However, eligibility for traditional programs is not contingent upon holding a bachelor’s degree in social work, although a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university is required.

Students in these programs typically must complete the equivalent of four semesters of full-time study in order to graduate, although the actual time to completion for traditional MSW programs varies by program and is dependent upon whether students opt for full-time or part-time enrollment. Part-time students can typically earn their MSW in three to four years.

Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in Georgia

Clark Atlanta University (CAU), a private, not-for-profit, historically black research university located in Atlanta, offers a traditional MSW program through its Whitney M. Young Jr., School of Social Work. This is a campus-based program with a clinical practice curriculum and two specialization options: Child and Family, and Health/Mental Health. Students in the program can opt for a two-year, full-time plan of study, or a three-year, part-time enrollment plan. Both require the completion of 59 graduate credits, inclusive of 900 hours of site-based field education.

Georgia State University has a traditional MSW program that is primarily campus-based but that offers some of its first-year courses in a hybrid format that incorporates online instruction. The program, which is offered through the School of Social Work in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, has an advanced generalist practice curriculum that provides training and instruction in both clinical and macro practice social work. It also offers a Community Partnership specialization. Students in the 60-credit program can opt for a two-year, full-time plan of study or enroll on a part-time basis and earn their degree in three years. The program requires students to complete a minimum of 900 hours of site-based field education.

Kennesaw State University (KSU), a public research university located in Atlanta, offers a traditional, campus-based MSW program with a clinical social work curriculum. The 60-credit program requires full-time enrollment and is designed to be completed in four semesters or two academic years. Students in the program take 48 credits of didactic coursework and must complete 1200 hours of site-based field education. Two days per week are allotted for field placements in the first year of the program for a total of 480 clock hours, and students engage in three days of field education per week during the program’s second year, accounting for the remaining 720 required hours. These field placements are completed at various social work and human services sites located throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Savannah State University, a public and historically black university, offers a traditional, campus-based MSW program with concentrations in Clinical Practice and Social Administration Practice. This 60-credit program is comprised of a 30-credit foundational curriculum that covers essential theories, practices, and policies in social work, and 30 credits of concentration coursework where students take classes specific to their chosen emphasis in Clinical Practice or Social Administration Practice. This program can be completed in two years of full-time study or three and a half years of part-time study. All students complete a 400-hour generalist field practicum as part of their foundational curriculum, and a 500-hour specialized field practicum during which they gain hands-on experience in a setting relevant to their concentration and desired area of work post-graduation.

The University of Georgia (UGA), a public university in Athens, offers a traditional, campus-based MSW program with specializations in Micro Practice (Clinical), Macro Practice (Community Development), and Integrated Practice through its School of Social Work. This 60-credit program is divided into 30 credits of Generalist coursework, followed by 30 credits of Specialization coursework, and can be completed in two years of full-time study. Students fulfill 312 hours of field practicum in their Generalist year and 600 hours in their Specialization year. In addition, the University of Georgia offers an Extended Time MSW program at its Gwinnett Campus in metro Atlanta, which allows students to pursue a part-time course of study over three to four years. For the Extended Time program, all classes are held in the evenings or on weekends to accommodate working students’ schedules.

Valdosta State University (VSU) has three MSW program formats for traditional students: a full-time, campus-based, two-year program with classes offered in the evenings; a part-time, campus-based, three- or four-year program that also has classes in the evening; and a part-time, three-year, cohort program with a hybrid format that blends online classes with monthly, campus-based intensives that take place over five weekends each semester (one per month). All three options provide an advanced generalist curriculum, which means that students receive training and instruction in both clinical and macro practice social work, and require traditional students to spend 940 hours engaged in site-based field education.

Traditional Online MSW Programs in Georgia

Albany State University, an historically black public university located in the city of Albany, offers a fully online, CSWE-accredited, traditional MSW program. All of the Albany State program’s didactic instruction is delivered online, with live courses scheduled in the evenings to accommodate students who work during regular business hours. The program’s curriculum focuses on clinical practice with vulnerable children, families, and adults through the lifespan and includes four 225-hour field placements for a total of 900 hours of site-based field education. This is a 64-credit master’s program that can be completed in two years of full-time study.

The University of Georgia (UGA) offers a fully online, 60-credit MSW program with a Micro Advanced Practice Social Work specialization that focuses on Individuals, Families, and Groups. Students in the online program are required to complete three field placements for a total of 912 site-based field education hours, divided into one 312-hour foundational practicum and one 600-hour specialized practicum. This is a part-time online program that is designed to be completed in three or four years, depending upon whether or not students choose to enroll in summer sessions.

Advanced Standing MSW Programs in Georgia

All but one of the universities that offer MSW programs in Georgia have an advanced standing option for qualified students who hold a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree conferred by an undergraduate program that is accredited by the CSWE. In addition to having graduated from an accredited BSW program, candidates for advanced standing tracks may be required to meet other benchmarks, such as a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a four-point scale, or a grade of B or better in all undergraduate social work courses.

Programs may also require applicants to have received their BSW degree relatively recently, usually within five, six, or seven years of applying for advanced standing status. Students who are admitted into an advanced standing program complete roughly half the coursework and field education that traditional programs require and are thus able to graduate in one (full-time) or two (part-time) years. BSW graduates who are not accepted into an advanced standing program can still pursue an MSW degree through a traditional program.

Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in Georgia

Clark Atlanta University (CAU) offers an MSW program through its Whitney M. Young Jr., School of Social Work with an advanced standing track for students who hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program with a 3.2 or higher cumulative GPA. Students admitted to the program’s 38-credit advanced standing track begin their graduate studies with a summer session bridge program consisting of three graduate courses designed to prepare them for the program’s concentration year. The program has a clinical social work curriculum that allows students to choose between two specializations: Child and Family, and Health/Mental Health. In addition to classroom-based instruction, advanced standing students are required to complete 450 hours of field education and the program can be completed in one year of full-time enrollment.

Georgia State University offers its MSW program in an advanced standing format for qualified students who hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program. The program has an advanced generalist curriculum with a Community Partnership specialization. Students admitted to the advanced standing program track take a nine-credit, three-course bridge program prior to beginning the program’s specialization year. This allows advanced standing students to complete their degree in one year of full-time enrollment. The 39-credit advanced standing program is campus-based and requires students to engage in 500 hours of supervised, site-based field education.

Savannah State University has a campus-based, advanced standing MSW program track that requires applicants to hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program. In order to be eligible for the program, an applicant must have earned their BSW within the last five years and graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a four-point scale. Savannah State’s MSW program has two specialization options: Clinical Practice, and Social Administration Practice. Advanced standing students begin the 33-credit advanced standing track with a summer session bridge program, after which they are able to complete the degree requirements, including 500 hours of field education, in two semesters of full-time enrollment.

The University of Georgia (UGA) has two campus-based MSW program options, both of which offer an advanced standing track for eligible students who have earned a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program. Applicants to UGA’s advanced standing program must have completed their BSW degree within the last five years and earned a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher on a four-point scale. Students who are interest in a full-time advanced standing program can apply to the program UGA offers through its main campus in Athens. UGA offers a part-time advanced standing program through its Gwinnett Campus in Lawrenceville.

Both programs have three specialization options: Micro Practice (clinical social work); Macro Practice (community social work/social work administration); and Integrated/Combined Practice (advanced generalist social work). Both programs require students to complete 600 hours of field education. The full-time program is designed to be completed by advanced standing students in one year; the part-time program takes two years to complete.

Valdosta State University’s (VSU) MSW program has two different format options for advanced standing students who have a BSW degree conferred by a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program within the last five years. These include a full-time program in which classes are offered on campus in the evenings; and a part-time, Web Hybrid program that combines online instruction with monthly weekend visits (which take place Friday afternoon and all-day Saturday). VSU’s MSW program features an advanced generalist curriculum that is designed to prepare students for careers in clinical social work and/or macro practice social work. Advanced standing students can complete the 33-credit advanced standing curriculum, which includes 540 hours of field education, in one year (with classes in the summer, fall and spring semesters).

Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs in Georgia

Albany State University is the only regionally accredited university in the state of Georgia that has a fully online advanced standing MSW program with programmatic accreditation from the CSWE. To qualify for this program, candidates must hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program that was conferred within the last five years, as well as a grade of B or better in all undergraduate social work courses. Albany State’s MSW program has a clinical practice specialization with a focus on working with vulnerable children, families, and adults through the lifespan. Advanced standing students are required to complete a minimum of 32 credits of coursework and two 225-hour field practicums for a total of 450 hours of site-based field instruction. Full-time students can graduate from the advanced standing program offered in one year.

Directory of All Master of Social Work Programs in Georgia

T Traditional programs, Advanced Standing programs, Campus programs, Hybrid programs (campus and online instruction), Hybrid-Online programs (3 to ~6 campus visits per year), Online programs (fully online to 2 campus visits per year)

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