Master of Social Work

The mission of the Masters program is: we value scientific inquiry, service, integrity, ethics, competence and the power of justice to educate and co-create a diverse, equitable, and accessible Program focused on human rights and enhanced quality of life for persons and communities, locally and globally.

Our vision is a learner-centered school that develops social work leaders to impact social, economic, environmental, and racial justice through excellence in research and practice.

The goals of the Masters program are to:

provide a professional education that prepares advanced practitioners to enhance, advocate, and support social, economic, and environmental justice and personal well-being for all people.
prepare advanced practitioners who demonstrate the knowledge, skills, values, cognitive and affective processes necessary to work effectively with diverse, vulnerable, and marginalized populations.
prepare advanced practitioners who possess the needed knowledge, embrace social work values, and have the requisite skills needed to formulate and realize a vision of a just society.
prepare ethical, reflective, and competent advanced practitioners in Clinical Social Work to work with individuals, families, and groups, and in Policy, Planning, and Administration to work with organizations, communities, and institutions within a global and changing environment
prepare advanced practitioners to effectively engage, assess, and intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and institutions by utilizing evidence-based knowledge and theories and guided by trauma informed, culturally responsive, and anti-racist models of practice.
prepare advanced practitioners with the knowledge, skills, values, cognitive and affective processes necessary to engage in practice informed research and research informed practice, and the ability to evaluate social work practice at micro, mezzo, and macro system levels.
prepare advanced practitioners who are grounded in a cultural-bio-psycho-social-spiritual framework, understand the historical roots of the social work profession, and can analyze, develop, and utilize social policy to advance justice policy to advance justice.

Undergraduate degree
3.0 cumulative GPA
In addition to the University's requirements for admission to a master's degree program, the following criteria will be considered for every applicant to all social work programs:

Evidence of adequate academic preparation for graduate study in social work. This includes consideration of undergraduate performance, liberal arts academic background, and proficiency in professional writing.
Evidence of personal qualifications considered desirable for successful social work practice. These include motivation for a human service profession, personal maturity, and leadership ability.
Evidence of adequate academic preparation for graduate study in social work This includes consideration of undergraduate performance liberal arts academic background and proficiency in professional writing A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 is required for admission into the 60 credit Full time or Extended Study MSW program unless otherwise approved by the Admissions Committee
Evidence of personal qualifications considered desirable for successful social work practice These include motivation for a human service profession personal maturity and leadership ability
Transcripts: Submit transcripts from your degree-granting institution and any institutions attended
Resume: Upload your resume, including information about your employment, internship and volunteer experiences.
Letters of Reference: Three professional references are required. If you are applying to the advanced standing program, include one recommendation from a social worker (faculty member, field instructor, liaison, or supervisor). You will be asked to provide the names and contact information of your references in the online application. WMU will email your references a link to a quick survey of your skills and attributes (required). Your references may also upload recommendation letters (not required, but recommended).
Supplementary Statement Essay Questions: The online application will ask you to answer a series of essay questions in addition to the typical demographic questions.
Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEFL 80 iBT graduate.
TOEFL Essential 8 Graduate.
International English Language Testing System IELTS Academic - 6.5 graduate.
Pearson Test of English Academic Module PTE - 54 graduate.

Students who have earned a Bachelor of Social Work from a CSWE accredited program within six years of application may apply to the 39hour Advanced Standing Program Applicants must meet the following criteria
BSW degree from a CSWE accredited program that was awarded not more than six years prior to the date of application to the WMU School of Social Work
Overall grade point average of 3.25
If applicant has one BSW course below a B they will be required to retake an equivalent course in the MSW curriculum Applicants are not eligible for the Advanced Standing program if they have earned more than one BSW course below a B
One year of fulltime post-BSW human service work experience is recommended
One of the three letters of recommendation must be from the applicants BSW program field instructor or faculty liaison