Admission to the MSW Program & Financial Assistance Information for our Program
What You Need to Know
Admissions Dates | MSW Scholarships, Grants, Financial Assistance Updated 11/05/09
Requirements for admission to the St. Ambrose Master of Social Work program include:
* Commitment to the values of the social work profession.
* An undergraduate degree from an accredited university with a 3.0 grade point average or better, and an emphasis in the liberal arts.
* A course in statistics. This course must be completed prior to enrolling in Research I.
* Familiarity with computers for word processing.
Admissions Criteria & Deadline Info
In addition to meeting the eligibility criteria of St. Ambrose Graduate Studies, the MSW Program requires:
* A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university with evidence of a liberal arts foundation to include the following minimum credit hours:
-- social and behavioral sciences (18 hours)
-- humanities ( 9 hours)
-- statistics ( 3 hours)
The Admissions Committee will review the applicant's transcript to determine whether or not the Liberal Arts requirement is satisfied. The following list of Liberal Arts distribution areas will be used to determine where a course belongs.
The Social and Behavioral Sciences: Anthropology, Biomedical History, Communications, Economics, Environmental Studies, Geography, History, International Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, Urban Planning, Women's Studies, all Ethnic Studies courses.
Humanities: Architecture, Art, Art History, Classics, Comparative
Literature, Dance, Drama, English, Landscape Architecture, Linguistics,
Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Speech Communication, all foreign
languages and literature.
* A related, non-statistics course (e.g. Math, Research Methods) may be
acceptable if 80% of the course content focuses on basic statistics. For
non-statistics courses, applicants must submit a catalogue description and a
course syllabus to the Admissions Committee for determination of whether
this eligibility criterion has been satisfied.
* Demonstrated potential for graduate studies by maintaining a 3.0 or better undergraduate grade point average
* Preferably previous experience in the field of human services as an employee, student, or volunteer
* Evidence of interest, ability, and potential for professional social work practice on an advanced level as demonstrated by three (3) letters of recommendation and a written personal statement.
The MSW program has a rolling admissions process
throughout the year. Students should be aware of the
following deadlines for submitting completed applications:
» Full-time study applications must be received by June 15.
» Part-time study applications must be received by August 1.
» Advanced-standing study applications must be received by June
15 (for summer semester enrollment) or by December 1 (for spring
semester enrollment).
After each application is evaluated by the Admissions Committee, a recommendation is made to the Director of the program. The committee does not make its recommendation on one factor alone; each factor is considered in light of the total application.
The Admissions Committee requires 30 days to make a determination and notify the applicant of its decision to accept or reject a petition for alternative fulfillment of eligibility requirements.
Written notification of admission is sent to the applicant. The Admissions Committee reviews every completed application on hand before making admissions decisions.
Transfer of credits: Students from other accredited graduate schools of social work may receive recognition of up to 30 credit hours, provided the courses were completed not more than five years prior to the date of application. Students must complete the 30 hours of the concentration year at St. Ambrose. No credits, other than those from an accredited graduate school of social work, will be transferred from other institutions. Graduate credits earned within five years at St. Ambrose may be applied as elective credits toward the MSW degree provided those credits were not applied to another degree. Not more than nine (9) elective credits can be earned and those must be reviewed by MSW faculty for appropriateness to social work education. No academic credit for life experience and previous work experience will be given, in whole or in part, in lieu of field practicum or of courses in the professional foundation areas specified in CSWE curriculum policy statement.
MSW FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE INFO: Note, Financial Assistance applications for fall 2010 term are due by 4:00pm on April 15, 2010. All pertinent information and application forms can be downloaded below.
>> Click to view/download our Financial Assistance Information for 2010/2011 (Information sheet is in .pdf format and includes info on grants, becoming a grad assistant & more)
>> Click here for specific Graduate Assistant information (MS Word .doc format)
>> Click here for the Graduate Fellowship Application form (MS Word .doc format)
>> Click here for the Empowerment Scholarship Application form
>> St. Vincent Scholarship info & application form can
be found here