Social Work Online Masters program at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Stick figures representing the number of full-ride scholarships. There were 17 full-ride admission scholarships for the Part-Time MSW Program in 2022-2023.

Hybrid Courses With In-Person Sessions Every Other Saturday.

Applications are now open for the 2023-24 academic year!

You can also register for a Part-Time Program Informational Session.

Some courses are designed as blended courses with a mix of online learning and in-person sessions while others are taught as online courses. In-person sessions take placeevery other Saturday on our Madison campus. Students should plan to be on campus each semester and be available each Saturday for class.

Please note that the move to hybrid courses is a permanent change and not related to COVID-19. In addition, admission to the Eau Claire site has been discontinued.

Both our Full and Part-Time MSW Programs are accredited through the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

Program Course Enrollment Policy: Students in this program cannot enroll in other graduate programs. All MSW requirements must be met by taking courses in the Part-Time MSW Program.

The Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work offers a number of Awards and Scholarships. Part-Time students in Child, Youth, and Family Welfare are also encouraged to apply for Public Child Welfare Training funding once they have been accepted.

For students without a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree, the focus of the curriculum for the first two years of study in the Part-Time MSW Program is on Generalist Practice.

Curriculum is generalist and is designed to provide you with foundational social work knowledge, values and skills and to prepare you for the Advanced Generalist Specialization.

In a broad social justice framework, advanced practice (students continuing from the Generalist years) or advanced standing (students entering the Program with a recent BSW) MSW students complete a generalist advanced practice specialization in one of two social problem focus areas. Students may also choose to have no focus area.

The Child, Youth, and Family Welfare focus area in the Part-Time MSW Program is intended for students with an interest in school social work, child welfare, or advanced generalist social work practice with children, youth, and families in other contexts and systems (e.g., juvenile justice, community-based services). The focus area exposes students to the policies and practice philosophies of multiple service systems, the ways in which these varied systems intersect, and models of coordinated service delivery for families involved in multiple systems. Students are exposed to innovative prevention and intervention strategies designed to reduce risk and promote resilience in children, youth, and families from diverse backgrounds and family structures.

Sub-focus areas available: Child Welfare, School Social Work, or Health and Aging.

Students who are accepted into the Title IV-E Stipend Program take electives in child welfare, complete a specialized field placement in child welfare, and attend additional learning activities that help prepare for work in public child welfare. Students pursuing school social work licensure take electives that prepare them for school social work licensure, including a school social work practice course and a school social work field placement. Students pursuing the Health and Aging sub-focus take a health and aging elective and have a health and aging field placement.

The Mental Health focus area prepares social workers for advanced practice roles in a variety of mental health settings, including those that address the needs of the most marginalized and underserved members of our communities.

Although the focus area embraces a life course perspective, it primarily focuses on clinical social work practice with children, youth, and adults who are living with, or at risk for, serious mental health and substance use problems. Students in this focus area learn advanced practice skills in mental health assessment, diagnosis, treatment, client-centered advocacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and evaluation of practice and client outcomes from an intersectional approach. They develop knowledge of conceptual and theoretical frameworks for understanding the nature, etiology, course, and consequences of major mental health conditions, as well as evidence-based and emerging models of clinical social work practice. Students also learn current social policies, funding mechanisms and service delivery systems that affect mental health consumers and their families. A recovery orientation, consumer empowerment, and cultural humility are woven into the mental health focus area curriculum.

Students who graduate with this focus area are prepared for clinical mental health positions in hospitals, outpatient clinics, community mental health programs and .

Tally Moses, MSW, PhD Angela Willits, MSW, LCSW.

The Part-Time MSW Program (PTP) follows a different schedule than the UW-Madison academic calendar. All classes held in-person occur on Saturdays unless otherwise listed.

Part-Time MSW Program Student Spotlight: Bethany L Matson.