The Department of Social Work offers a Master of Social Work (MSW), with a generalist perspective. The program received candidacy status with the Council on Social Work Education in February 2020. The program is designed to prepare students for advanced roles as practitioners to practice holistically in diverse and complex settings.  Graduate programs are delivered in traditional classroom, hybrid, and online format.  In order to register in graduate social work courses, students must be admitted to the Social Work program for theGeneralist or Specialized/Advanced years.  The program adheres to a set of professional standards for academic and behavioral performance, including the NASW Code of Ethics.  They are posted on our website.

Mission

The Master’s in Social Work at Colorado State University-Pueblo is designed to meet the needs of diverse constituencies in southeastern Colorado.  As an advanced generalist program the curriculum includes a strong focus on intervention at multiple levels, advanced policy analysis, and research skills.  The mission of the MSW Program at Colorado State University-Pueblo is to prepare competent advanced social work practitioners with the knowledge, skills, values, and cognitive and affective processes required to serve diverse client populations in systems of all sizes.

Program objectives emerge from the mission statement and coordinate with the Accreditation Standards required by the Council on Social Work Education.  Our objectives are to:

1.  Prepare advanced social work practitioners with the ethical consciousness, cultural competence, and desire to be lifelong learners who give back to the profession of social work and enhance the global community in which we live;

2.  Provide students with the necessary advanced skills in engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation in order to competently serve diverse client populations at all levels of social work practice and across the lifespan utilizing the ecological perspective as a foundation; and

3.  Prepare students to engage in policy practice, to advocate for social and economic justice, to serve diverse client systems of all sizes ethically and compassionately, and to engage in research in its many forms in order to better serve individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Admission Requirements

The Master of Social Work students must be admitted to CSU Pueblo graduate studies program before applying to the Master of Social Work program.  Students enrolled in the Master of Social Work curriculum must have prior acceptance into the social work program as Generalist or Specialist/Advanced Standing candidates.  Applications are available on our website.  For questions, please contact the Department Chair.

Generalist Year Admission Standards

• A bachelor’s degree from a university accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the Department of Education, with at least 18 credits of liberal arts studies;
• A course in statistics;
• A research course;
• A GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, or a 2.8-2.99 GPA on a 4.0 scale with a “B” grade or higher in all courses in the first semester of the Generalist program;
• 3 Letters of recommendation, one from a professor, one from academic advisor, one from employer or field supervisor;
• A 3-page statement of the role you expect your graduate studies to play in your professional and personal development.  Be sure to state your employment history and goals, as well as your personal motivation. Note your strengths and needs as a graduate student of social work.  Please address diversity in your statement.  One way of defining diversity is the sum of personal traits and qualities, as well as life experiences that affect development and beliefs.  Diversity usually includes race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, spiritual or religious beliefs, age, and other qualities, including geography and body weight.  Experiences can include personal life experiences, such as career choice, individual challenges, and exposure to or working in cultures other than your primary culture. Even if you believe that you have had a small amount of experience with diversity in your life, please describe its impact on your social work plans; and
• Completion of the CSU Pueblo Admission Application as a Graduate student and payment of the $35 application fee.

Specialized Year Admission Standards

• A Bachelor of Social Work degree from a CSWE accredited program or recognized through its International Social Work Degree Recognition and Evaluation Services;
• A course in statistics;
• A research course;
• A GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale;
• 120 hours of volunteer or paid work experience in human services field (above and beyond field hours) in a 6-month period during the last 5 calendar years;
• Most recent field evaluation;
• 3 Letters of recommendation, one from a professor, one from academic advisor, one from employer or field supervisor (BSW students from CSU-Pueblo may not use a current social work professor as a reference. You may substitute an additional educational reference in place of the academic advisor's recommendation);
• A 3-page statement of the role you expect your graduate studies to play in your professional and personal development.  Be sure to state your employment history and goals, as well as your personal motivation. Note your strengths and needs as a graduate student of social work.  Please address diversity in your statement.  Diversity can be defined as the sum of a person’s characteristics and experiences.  Characteristics can include race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, spiritual or religious beliefs, age, and other characteristics.  Experiences can include personal life experiences, such as career history, personal challenges, exposure to different cultures, working with other cultures, and/or speaking another language.  Even if you have had minimal contact with people from diverse backgrounds, please describe how you believe diversity relates to social work practice; and,
• Completion of the CSU Pueblo Admission Application as a Graduate student and payment of the $35 application fee. 

The MAT or GRE is not required for admission.

Student Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this program, graduates will be able to:

1.   Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

2.   Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

3.   Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice

4.   Engage In Practice-informed Research and Research-informed Practice

5.   Engage in Policy Practice

6.   Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

7.   Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

8.   Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

9.   Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Master of Social Work Curriculum Requirements

Social Work (MSW) degrees can be obtained in one of two ways:  straight admission from the accredited BSW to the MSW, referred to as Specialized, and a longer program that can be accessed by anyone with any undergraduate degree, referred to as Generalist.  Specialized courses cover an entire calendar year, if the student is full time.  When the student is full time, Generalist courses cover a calendar year plus the Specialized calendar year. 

Generalist - Year One 

Specialist - Year Two or Advanced Standing

TOTAL CREDITS TO MSW DEGREE IN ADVANCED GENERALIST PRACTICE: 75 CREDITS