Full Program and Scheduling Options
50 semester credits
This program is designed for students:
- whose undergraduate degree was NOT in social work
- whose undergraduate social work degree was from a program that was not accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) at the time the degree was awarded
The full program includes foundation course work followed by a concentration in either direct practice or community practice. Students can complete the full program in two years of full-time study or three to four years of part-time study.
The following applies to all students in the full program who study on the St. Paul campus:
- Students can take classes on a full-time (at least three classes per semester) or part-time (at least two classes per semester) basis.
- Students complete two field placements of 480 hours each. The first field placement can be completed over the course of the academic year, concurrent with the foundation methods courses or in a block placement over the summer immediately following the completion of the required foundation methods courses. A concurrent placement requires 16 hours each week from September through May. A block placement requires 40 hours each week over 12 weeks of the summer. For students studying part time, the first field placement usually occurs in the second year of study.
- Students who choose a summer block field placement face an overall increase in tuition as a result of matriculating in an additional registration period.
- Full program students can attend on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota or at distance education sites on the campus of Minnesota State University at Moorhead or the University of Minnesota Rochester.
Full Program Scheduling Options
Full program students choose from one of the following options:
Thursday, Friday, Saturday (TFS) Option
(available only to students on the Twin Cities campus) Classes are
scheduled Monday through Saturday, with most required classes scheduled
on Thursday and Friday, during the day. Students taking the TFS option may
choose either the
direct practice or
community practice concentration.
Weekend-Exclusive Option
Classes meet every weekend on Friday evenings (until approximately 8
p.m.) and all day Saturday. Although students may complete their course
work on weekends, certain required program components ( field
instruction, new-student orientation, etc.) are held during weekday
hours.
SSW offers only the direct practice concentration to students who choose the weekend-exclusive option. Students who study through distance education are limited to the weekend-exclusive option.
Students can meet all of their degree requirements through weekend-exclusive study during the academic year. Students may choose to take summer session classes, but these classes are not offered in the weekend-exclusive format.