Ph.D. Admissions
We welcome your interest in graduate study at the School of Social Work, and we invite you to explore our website thoroughly for further information on the Ph.D. program.
If you have questions about our programs, please contact us at 612-625-1220 or at 1-800-779-8636.
If you have questions about admissions, contact us at 612-624-4704, toll free at 1-800-779-8636 or at swadmis@umn.edu.
Our application packets contains all of the forms and information you will need to apply to the School of Social Work. You must also apply separately to the U of M Graduate School. That application is available online at: www.grad.umn.edu/prospective_students/apply_online.html.
Although all admissions materials are available online, they are designed to be submitted as hard copy. Should you need a printed copy of the application, we are happy to send it. Application materials are not accepted electronically.
We will use e-mail and information posted on these web pages as the primary means of communicating with you during the application process. If you do not use e-mail, be sure to keep our office updated with your most current mailing address and phone number.
Please take time to explore the School's web pages to learn more about the School, the programs, and the faculty and their research interests. You may also want to visit the U of M web site (http://www.umn.edu) to learn more about the University of Minnesota.
The following are expectations for admission to the SSW Ph.D. program:
- A master's degree with a 3.0 GPA;
- Two years of post-master's practice experience;
- International students must submit scores from either the TOEFL exam or the IELTS
Admission Requirements
Prerequisites
You may be enrolled in a master's program at the time you apply to the
Ph.D. program; however, you must have completed your master's degree
before beginning study in the doctoral program.
It is preferred that applicants have earned the master's degree in social work from a school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. However, we do consider applicants with a master's degree in a related discipline. When this is the case, the School of Social Work may require the completion of some M.S.W. course work as a condition for enrollment.
Preference is given to applicants with post-masters work experience, but the amount and type of experience required of applicants varies according to their previous experience and career goals.
GRE Exam Requirement
All applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Examination
(GRE). You must submit scores from the GRE taken within the past five
years. For further information on the GRE contact:
- U of M UCCS Testing Center: 612-624-9853 or http://www.uccs.umn.edu/education/testing/
- Educational Testing Service: 609-771-7670 or www.gre.org
- Thomson Prometric GRE Registration Center: 1-800-473-2255 or www.2test.com
Please submit your official scores to both the School of Social Work with the Ph.D. application and to the U of M Graduate School with the Graduate School application.
International Applicants
International applicants whose first language is not English must submit
scores from either the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or
the IELTS (International English Language Testing Service).
- TOEFL: A minimum score of 213 (computer) or 550 (paper) is required
- IELTS: A minimum score of 6.5 is required.
Scores must be less than two years old.
Please submit your official scores to both the School of Social Work with this application and to the U of M Graduate School with your Graduate School application.
For more information on the TOEFL and IELTS:
www.toefl.org,
www.ielts.org and
www.ucs.umn.edu/testing
Transcripts
You will need two sets of transcripts from each college, university, and
graduate school you have attended. Submit one set of transcripts with
the School of Social Work application for admission and one set of
transcripts with the Graduate School application for admission. Follow
the instructions in the application for highlighting information in the
transcripts sent to the School of Social Work.