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Social Work - B.S.W.

The Bachelor of Social Work program equips you with the knowledge and skills needed to make a positive impact on the lives of individuals, families, and communities. With a focus on social justice and human rights, you'll learn how to advocate for marginalized populations and create meaningful change in society. Enroll now and start making a difference in the world.

Students at any Kent State Regional Campus can enroll in this College of Applied and Technical Studies program, which is housed at the campuses of Ashtabula, Salem and Tuscarawas. 

Contact Information

Program Director: Matt Butler, MSSA, LISW-S, LICDC-CS

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Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work

The Bachelor of Social Work degree prepares students to work at a generalist level across many social work areas or to continue on to the Master of Social Work degree.
 

Program Information for Social Work - B.S.W.

Program Description

Full Description

The Bachelor of Social Work degree prepares students to work at a generalist level across many social work areas or to continue on to the Master of Social Work degree. Students in the program apply their academic knowledge to the practical realities of making a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities. The curriculum includes a focus on rural social work, with options for students to specialize in mental health, substance use disorder, gerontology, child welfare settings, suicide prevention and trauma-informed care.

Professional Licensure Disclosure

This program is designed to prepare students to sit for applicable licensure or certification in Ohio. If you plan to pursue licensure or certification in a state other than Ohio, please review state educational requirements for licensure or certification and contact information for state licensing boards at Kent State's website for professional licensure disclosure.

Social workers, all other
  • 5.1% faster than the average
  • 62,500 number of jobs
  • $64,210 potential earnings
Admissions for Social Work - B.S.W.

Admission Requirements

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago.

First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends. Students not admissible to the Kent Campus may be administratively referred to one of the seven regional campuses to begin their college coursework. For more information, visit the .

First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent. For more information on admissions, contact the Regional Campuses admissions offices.

International Students: All international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning a minimum 525 TOEFL score (71 on the Internet-based version), minimum 75 MELAB score, minimum 6.0 IELTS score or minimum 48 PTE Academic score, or by completing the ELS level 112 Intensive Program. For more information, visit the admissions website for international students.

Transfer Students: Students who have attended any other educational institution after graduating from high school must apply as undergraduate transfer students. For more information, visit the admissions website for transfer students.

Former Students: Former Kent State students or graduates who have not attended another college or university since Kent State may complete the reenrollment or reinstatement form on the University Registrar’s website.

Admission policies for undergraduate students may be found in the University Catalog's .

Some programs may require that students meet certain requirements before progressing through the program. For programs with progression requirements, the information is shown on the program's Coursework tab.

Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

  1. Use social work skills to assess and treat micro-, mezzo- and macro-level challenges.
  2. Apply ethical standards in interactions with social work clients.
  3. Demonstrate cultural competence in social work practice.
  4. Advocate for oppressed individuals and groups through social justice.
  5. Apply social work skills using the person-in-environment focus to work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.
  6. Effectively communicate as a professional social worker using written and verbal language skills.
Coursework

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

Major Requirements (courses count in major GPA; min C/S grade required in all courses)
SWK 24140INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK 3
SWK 24146PERSPECTIVES ON BEHAVIOR AND ENVIRONMENT I 3
SWK 24147PERSPECTIVES ON BEHAVIOR AND ENVIRONMENT II 3
SWK 25100SOCIAL WORK IN RURAL SETTINGS 3
SWK 25248SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY 3
SWK 34140PRACTICE CONTENT FOR SOCIAL WORK I 3
SWK 34141PRACTICE CONTENT FOR SOCIAL WORK II 3
SWK 34149APPLIED RESEARCH IN SOCIAL WORK 3
SWK 44192FIELD EXPERIENCE I (ELR) 3
SWK 44210INTEGRATIVE SEMINAR 3
SWK 44292FIELD EXPERIENCE II (ELR) 3
SWK 44299SOCIAL WORK CAPSTONE (ELR) (WIC) 3
Major Electives, choose from the following:12
SWK 25195
SPECIAL TOPICS IN SOCIAL WORK
SWK 35120
SOCIAL WORK IN MENTAL HEALTH SETTINGS
SWK 35121
SOCIAL WORK IN SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER SETTINGS
SWK 35122
SOCIAL WORK IN CHILD WELFARE SETTINGS
SWK 35123
SOCIAL WORK AND TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE
SWK 35124
SOCIAL WORK PERSPECTIVES ON AGING
SWK 35125
INTERPROFESSIONAL APPROACHES TO SUICIDE PREVENTION
SWK 35195
SPECIAL TOPICS IN SOCIAL WORK
SWK 35196
INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION IN SOCIAL WORK
Additional Program Requirements (courses do not count in major GPA)
UC 10001FLASHES 101 1
6
3
9
6
6-7
6
General Electives (total credit hours depends on earning 120 credit hours, including 39 upper-division credit hours)35
Minimum Total Credit Hours:120

Progression Requirements

Prior to enrolling in SWK 44192, students must complete the following requirements:

  1. Complete the required college courses as specified on the roadmap, with a minimum 2.000 GPA in all social work (SWK) courses.
  2. Submit an application to be considered for a field placement.
  3. Meet with the program's field director or program director to determine options for placement sites.
  4. Complete the background check and other orientation or pre-placement requirements as dictated by placement site.

Graduation Requirements

Minimum Major GPA Minimum Overall GPA
2.000 2.000
  • Minimum 400 hours of supervised field experience
Roadmap

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

Plan of Study Grid
Semester OneCredits
SWK 24140 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK 3
UC 10001 FLASHES 101 1
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours16
Semester Two
SWK 24146 PERSPECTIVES ON BEHAVIOR AND ENVIRONMENT I 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours15
Semester Three
SWK 24147 PERSPECTIVES ON BEHAVIOR AND ENVIRONMENT II 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
Kent Core Requirement 3
 Credit Hours15
Semester Four
SWK 25100 SOCIAL WORK IN RURAL SETTINGS 3
SWK 25248 SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY 3
General Electives 8
 Credit Hours14
Semester Five
SWK 34140 PRACTICE CONTENT FOR SOCIAL WORK I 3
SWK 34149 APPLIED RESEARCH IN SOCIAL WORK 3
General Electives 9
 Credit Hours15
Semester Six
SWK 34141 PRACTICE CONTENT FOR SOCIAL WORK II 3
Social Work Electives 6
General Electives 6
 Credit Hours15
Semester Seven
SWK 44210 INTEGRATIVE SEMINAR 3
SWK 44192 FIELD EXPERIENCE I (ELR) 3
Social Work Elective 3
General Electives 6
 Credit Hours15
Semester Eight
SWK 44299 SOCIAL WORK CAPSTONE (ELR) (WIC) 3
SWK 44292 FIELD EXPERIENCE II (ELR) 3
Social Work Elective 3
General Electives 6
 Credit Hours15
 Minimum Total Credit Hours:120
Program Delivery
  • Delivery:
    • Mostly online
  • Location:
    • Ashtabula Campus
    • Salem Campus
    • Tuscarawas Campus
Accreditation for Social Work - B.S.W.

The Bachelor of Social Work is currently in pre-candidacy for accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Board of Accreditation (BOA).

Pre-candidacy for a baccalaureate or master’s social work program by the BOA indicates that it submitted an application to be reviewed for candidacy and received approval of its Benchmark 1 from CSWE accreditation staff to move forward for a candidacy review within 1-year. A program that has attained pre-candidacy status has not yet been reviewed by the BOA nor verified to be compliant with the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS).
Students that are admitted to pre-candidate programs in the fall (or later) of the academic year in which the program is granted candidacy status will be retroactively recognized as graduates from a CSWE-BOA accredited program as long as the program attains initial accreditation. Candidacy is typically a 3-year process and attaining pre-candidacy does not guarantee that a program will eventually attain candidacy and initial accreditation.

Pre-candidacy applies to all program options, which includes locations and delivery methods.

Accreditation provides reasonable assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program.

Review our program’s pre-candidacy status in CSWE’s Directory of Accredited Programs (https://www.cswe.org/accreditation/about/directory/?). For more information about social work accreditation, contact CSWE’s Department of Social Work Accreditation.

Examples of Possible Careers and Salaries for Social Work - B.S.W.

Graduates of Â鶹´«Ã½'s Bachelor of Social Work are prepared for various careers as social work generalists focusing on rural social work, or to specialize in mental health, substance use disorder, gerontology, child welfare settings, suicide prevention and trauma-informed care.

Notice: Career Information Source
* Source of occupation titles and labor data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' . Data comprises projected percent change in employment over the next 10 years; nation-wide employment numbers; and the yearly median wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.