Master of Social Work (MSW) Programs in Washington - Campus, Hybrid, and Online

There are four schools in the state of Washington that currently offer Master of Social Work (MSW) degree programs: Eastern Washington University (EWU); Seattle University; the University of Washington (UW); and Walla Walla University (WWU). EWU has traditional and advanced standing MSW programs that it offers through three of its campuses in Cheney, Everett, and Spokane. Seattle University has a campus-based program with a traditional and an advanced standing track, as does WWU, which uses a hybrid format that includes some online instruction. UW has campus-based programs with day and evening classes that meet on its main campus in Seattle, as well as a campus-based program offered in Tacoma. All of UW’s programs have traditional and advanced standing tracks.

The four schools in Washington State that currently offer MSW programs are fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), a noted in the list below.

• Eastern Washington University (Accredited)
• Seattle University (Accredited)
• University of Washington (Accredited)
• Walla Walla University (Accredited)

The sections below provide details about each of the MSW programs offered by the schools above. Programs are grouped by program type (traditional vs. advanced standing). Currently there are no schools in Washington that offer a fully online MSW program.

• Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in Washington
• Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in Washington
• Additional MSW Program Options for Residents of Washington
• Directory of All MSW Programs in Washington

Traditional MSW Programs in Washington

All four of the schools in Washington that offer MSW programs have traditional programs that are designed for qualified students who hold a bachelor’s degree in any field or discipline. These programs are generally comprised of four full-time semesters of coursework, including a minimum of 900 hours of site-based field education. Thus, full-time students can earn a traditional MSW degree in roughly two years, while part-time students generally take three or four years to earn their degree.

The baseline admissions requirement for a traditional MSW program is a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. However, programs may have additional requirements, such as a minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 or 3.0 on a four-point scale and/or prerequisite courses that are required for admission. While many programs accept students with a wide range of undergraduate degrees, some MSW programs give preference to students who have an undergraduate degree in a social science field or who have work experience in human services.

Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in Washington

Eastern Washington University (EWU) offers a traditional MSW program with an Advanced Generalist Practice curriculum in three different formats at three different campuses. EWU has a full-time, two-year program in which students attend classes in Cheney the first year and in Spokane the second year; a part-time, three-year hybrid program that combines online instruction with in-person classes held three weekends per quarter at EWU’s Spokane campus; and a part-time, weeknight hybrid program that holds evening classes at EWU’s Everett campus on two evenings every other week which takes three years to complete. All three program options have an advanced generalist curriculum that provides training and instruction in clinical and macro practice social work. The full-time program requires students to complete 970 hours of field education, and the part-time programs require 972 hours of field education.

EWU’s full-time program admits a new cohort of students once per year starting in the fall quarter. The part-time programs offered in Everett and Spokane have new cohorts that start every two years in the summer quarter. Students interested in these programs should check with EWU’s School of Social Work to determine when the next cohorts will be starting.

Seattle University offers a campus-based traditional MSW program with a clinical practice curriculum and three options for sub-specialization: Addictions Counseling; Medical/Health Social Work; and Trauma-Informed Practice. The program, which accepts applications from bachelor’s program graduates who have completed three undergraduate courses in liberal arts content (humanities, social science, and natural science) as well as a statistics course, is a 66-credit graduate program that is designed to be completed in two-years of full-time enrollment. Students in the program engage in 448 hours of required field education during their first year and 720 in the second year, for a total of 1168 hours of site-based field work.

University of Washington (UW) offers two MSW program options for traditional students at its main campus in Seattle and an additional program through its University of Washington Tacoma (UW Tacoma) satellite campus. UW’s main campus has a traditional MSW day program that is designed for full-time students and has a two-year completion time, and an MSW extended program with part-time enrollment, a three-year completion time, and classes offered on weekday evenings or on select, consecutive Fridays and Saturdays in order to accommodate working professionals. The full-time program has three specialization options: Administration and Policy Practice (macro); Community-Centered Integrative Practice (advanced generalist); and Clinical Social Work (clinical). The part-time program has two clinical practice specialization options: Multigenerational Practice with Children, Family, and Elders; and Integrative Health-Mental Health Specialized Practice. Students in the full-time program complete 1080 hours of field education; extended program students are required to completed 1040 hours of field education.

The UW Tacoma program is a three-year, part-time program with classes that meet in the evening and students are required to complete 1080 total hours of site-based field education. The UW Tacoma program has an Advanced Integrative Practice specialization.

Walla Walla University (WWU) offers a traditional MSW program with a clinical focus through its Wilma Hepker School of Social Work and Sociology. The 79-credit program uses a hybrid format in which weekly in-person class meetings held on Mondays are augmented by online coursework. Traditional students in the WWU program are required to complete 300 hours of field education in a generalist setting and 600 hours in an advanced clinical practice setting for a total of 900 hours of field education. The program’s requirements can be completed in as few as six quarters, although most student take two years to complete their degree.

Advanced Standing MSW Programs in Washington

Advanced standing MSW programs are designed to provide qualified graduates from Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree programs with a shorter and more direct pathway to earning a master’s degree in social work than traditional/full-length programs. To be eligible for a program’s advanced standing track, applicants must hold a BSW degree conferred by a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program, usually within the last five to seven years. Many advanced standing programs also require applicants to have a minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a four-point scale.

Students who qualify for an advanced standing track are credited with most of the foundational coursework and field education they completed as part of their BSW degree, which is why these programs take less time to complete than traditional MSW programs. A typical advanced standing program can be completed in one year of full-time or two years of part-time enrollment. Field education requirements in advanced standing programs vary but are generally in the range of 500-700 hours.

All four of the schools in Washington that have MSW programs offer advanced standing tracks for qualified students. BSW graduates who are not accepted into an advanced standing program can still earn an MSW degree by enrolling in a traditional program.

Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in Washington

Eastern Washington University (EWU) has advanced standing tracks for its MSW program that are offered in three different formats at three different campuses. The program has an advanced generalist curriculum that prepares students for clinical and macro practice social work. For students who are interested in a full-time, one-year advanced standing program that is campus-based, EWU has a program that is offered on its Spokane campus and that requires 600 hours of field education. Students who are interested in a part-time advanced standing program have two hybrid program options that combine in-person classes with online instruction and that take 1.5 years to complete. EWU has a part-time hybrid program that holds in-person classes three weekends per quarter at EWU’s Spokane campus, and a part-time hybrid program that holds evening classes at EWU’s Everett campus on two evenings every other week. The part-time programs require students to engage in 625 hours of site-based field education.

EWU’s full-time advanced standing program admits students once per year with new cohorts starting in the summer quarter. For the part-time programs that are offered in Everett and Spokane, new cohorts of students are admitted every two years in the summer quarter. Students interested in the part-time programs should check with EWU’s School of Social Work for the latest information on the next start dates for these programs.

Seattle University offers its campus-based MSW program in an advanced standing format for eligible students who hold a BSW from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program and have a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 on a four-point scale. The program has a clinical practice focus with three sub-specialization options: Addictions Counseling; Medical/Health Social Work; and Trauma-Informed Practice. This is a full-time advanced standing program that is designed to be completed in one year and it includes 720 hours of required field education.

University of Washington (UW) offers all three of its MSW program options in an advanced standing format for qualified students who hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program that was conferred withing the last five years. UW has a full-time MSW day program with an advanced standing track that can be completed in ten months. Full-time advanced standing students have three specialization options: Administration and Policy Practice (macro); Community-Centered Integrative Practice (advanced generalist); and Clinical Social Work (clinical).

UW also has a part-time extended MSW program with an advanced standing track that takes 17 months to complete and that has two specialization options: Multigenerational Practice with Children, Family, and Elders; and Integrative Health-Mental Health Specialized Practice. Both advanced standing program options required students to complete 680 hours of field education. Finally, UW offers a part-time MSW program with an advanced standing track at UW Tacoma. The UW Tacoma program, which takes 18 months to complete and has an Advanced Integrative Practice concentration, holds classes in the evenings and requires advanced standing students to complete 680 hours of field education.

Walla Walla University (WWU), through its Wilma Hepker School of Social Work and Sociology, offers an advanced standing MSW program with an advanced clinical practice specialization. The program, which is comprised of 49 credits of coursework, includes 600 hours of advanced clinical practice field education. It can be completed in four quarters or roughly one year by full-time students. Students in the program, which utilizes a hybrid model of instruction, attend weekly campus-based classes held on Mondays. Additional coursework is delivered via online instruction. To be eligible for the program, applicants must hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a four-point scale.

Additional MSW Program Options for Residents of Washington

Washington residents may also want to explore the many options for earning an MSW degree from out-of-state schools, including but not limited to schools in the neighboring states of Idaho and Oregon. In addition to campus-based programs, which generally require students to relocate in order to attend classes and complete field education requirements, there are online MSW programs that require few if any campus visits. Students in an online MSW program receive all or most of their didactic instruction via distance learning platforms and engage in site-based field work at social work agencies and human service organizations approved by the program. Many online programs allow students to find field placements in their geographical location.

For more information on CSWE-accredited MSW programs offered by out-of-state schools, refer to our Online MSW Programs page.

All Master of Social Work Programs in Washington

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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