Social Work Programs at SCSU

Our degree programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, Alexandria, Virginia. St. Cloud State is part of the seven-university Minnesota BSW Consortium, which supports bachelor’s-level social workers pursuing public child welfare careers in rural Minnesota.

Select from our Social Work B.S. or if you are looking to continue your education or enhance your professional life, we offer to variations of a Master in Social Work.

Current students may also find downloadable policy handbooks and forms related to their program here.

What would you like to learn more about today?

Our Mission
The mission of the Department of Social Work at St. Cloud State University is to use an anti-oppression lens, with a focus on race, class and gender, to inform both its educational environment and educational programs. Faculty, staff and students commit to an experiential and transformative educational process that will challenge them to think critically and analyze systemic inequalities in the United States and the world. This process will prepare professional social workers to work as change agents in a diverse world.

Social Work B.S.

Our Bachelor of Science degree prepares graduates for entry-level professional positions and admission to graduate school. 

The BSW program at St. Cloud State University is to uses an anti-oppressive lens for all dimensions of diversity, with a focus on race, class, poverty, sexuality and gender, to inform the environmental context of generalist social work education and practice. Faculty, staff and students commit to building on a strong Liberal Arts education, an experiential and transformative learning process, and valuing evidence-based practice that incorporates the core values of the social work profession. We empower our students to think critically, analyze, and [actively] challenge systemic inequalities in the United States and the world. This process will prepare professional generalist social workers to be change agents in a diverse world.

BSW in the University Catalog and Degree Map

Graduate Program

The Master of Social Work degree prepares graduates to think critically and work collaboratively in the social services profession which is committed to social justice and works toward resolving systemic issues that may impact a community and its members.

Social workers strive towards empowering individuals, groups, and communities to create better lives for themselves and those around them. Social workers are active in public advocacy, government agencies, an at all levels of services in communities.

The Master of Social Work has national and international recognition as a professional degree.

Program Mission

The mission of the MSW program is to engage students in an educational program that prepares them to think critically and evaluate practice and programs and contribute to the body of social work knowledge through active research. Students will be prepared to work effectively and collaboratively as professional social workers to enhance human well-being and promote economic, political and social justice in a diverse and global society. Using justice centered and community-based practice approaches, the MSW program will prepare social work professionals at the advanced generalist level who can practice across a variety of social service settings.

Student Outcomes, Agency Sites and Handbooks