Social Work Major Requirements

The undergraduate program in social work prepares students for beginning generalist social work practice, which involves the capacity to apply knowledge, skills, and values to assess a range of situations and the ability to work with individuals, groups, larger organizations and communities from a wide variety of perspectives. You will complete coursework in human behavior and the social environment, social welfare history and policy, research, social work practice methods and field instruction. As you progress, you will develop the skills to intervene at a generalist level with individuals, groups, organizations, families, and communities. Upon graduation, you will be prepared as a baccalaureate-level social work practitioner with a strong foundation in liberal arts. The Council on Social Work Education has accredited our program since 1974. Hundreds of students have graduated from the program since initial accreditation.

The Department of Social Work offers two undergraduate degrees in social work. These degrees are a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW) and Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). The only difference between these two degrees is that the BASW requires the student to complete four semesters of a foreign language; the BSW does not require a foreign language.

Course Requirements for an Undergraduate Degree in Social Work

As stated earlier, a liberal arts perspective integrates with the social work curriculum content areas of human behavior in the social environment, social welfare policy, research, social work methods, and field education. Completion of the university's general education requirements (Tier I, II, and III) and the requirements of the College of Health Sciences and Professions ensures that the student obtains a liberal arts background. The following list represents an overview of the requirements for an undergraduate degree in social work:

  1. The College of Health Sciences and Professions requirements
  2. The liberal arts distribution
  3. Foreign language requirements (BASW only)
  4. The Department of Social Work's requirements as outlined below

Refer to the See the official Ohio University Catalog for details on the degree requirements for the B.A.S.W. and degree requirements for the B.S.W. In order to graduate, students must complete all of the above areas of study. Progress on meeting these requirements can be tracked via the Degree Auditing Reporting System (DARS) and should be reviewed each semester in conjunction with your advisor.

It is important to become familiar with the Department of Social Work's required courses.

The program complies with all Council on Social Work Education (CSWE; 2015) programmatic requirements. For copies of the complete "Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards," visit the CSWE website and follow the link to "Accreditation."

The undergraduate social work program also has a University Partnership Program (UPP) and an Honors Tutorial Program.

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