The part-time Master of Social Work (MSW) program offered by the Adelphi University School of Social Work blends compelling theoretical study and real-world training to prepare students for diverse opportunities and rewarding careers in a vital and expanding field. The program can be completed online or on campus.
There is also an accelerated Advanced Standing option for students who hold a bachelor’s degree in social work from a university or college accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. For more information on the Advanced Standing option for the Master’s of Social Work click here.
Students benefit from a high-touch, high-quality education with flexibility to balance all their obligations. Our faculty deliver personalized instruction in a convenient online format, including mandatory weekly synchronous online class sessions and twice-yearly on-campus or virtual residencies. In light of the current public health crisis and the need to minimize interpersonal contact, Adelphi University has moved all residency instruction to a remote format through Spring 2022.
Your Adelphi Online MSW also includes comprehensive assistance with field placements — wherever you reside.
If you are interested in the intersection of social work and health, you can personalize your degree path by choosing the Health Across the Life Course specialization. You will gain an overview of health care practice in order to provide expert, respectful care across diverse populations and throughout every phase of human life.
—U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Adelphi’s Master of Social Work online students are given unique opportunities to prepare for licensure. In addition to offering exam preparation courses, Adelphi’s program integrates information from previous exams into the program’s coursework. This allows our graduates to assume roles such as social workers, administrators and educators in a wide range of settings that include:
- Hospitals
- Medical clinics
- Nursing Homes
- Rehabilitation centers
- Hospices
- Community mental health agencies
- Substance misuse clinics
- Public and private schools
- Child welfare organizations
- Health and human services departments
- Military bases
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs centers and clinics
- Correctional facilities
- Private practices
Field Placements
Field education is a central component of graduate social work programs, teaching students to apply the theory and knowledge learned in the classroom to social work practice in agency settings.
Field work assignments include conducting face-to-face interviews with clients both individually and in group settings. We are affiliated with more than 1,000 human service agencies throughout the New York metropolitan region, including, but not limited to:
- Child welfare agencies
- Community centers
- Detention centers and correctional facilities
- Domestic violence agencies
- Mental health clinics
- Medical and psychiatric hospitals
- Nursing homes and extended care facilities
- Residential treatment facilities
- Schools
- Substance abuse treatment programs
- Veteran’s programs
- Youth service agencies
Our experienced faculty will work with out-of-state residents to find similar field work sites. Visit our Field Placements page for more information on the timing and practicality of this central component to the Online MSW program.
Learn more about the on-campus MSW program here.
On-Campus Residency
Personal relationships are at the core of social work, and students in our online MSW program build professional connections with each other and their professors by attending required on-campus residencies.
These two to four-day, in-person experiences take place twice annually in August and January at Adelphi’s main campus on Long Island in Garden City, N.Y. During the residencies, you’ll have the chance to collaborate with peers and faculty in a traditional classroom setting as well as participate in networking opportunities like lunches.
See our curriculum page for more information and the residency schedule.
Virtual Residency
Beginning in January 2022, MSW students will have the option to attend virtual residencies, which will include opportunities to interact with peers and faculty. Students receive a virtual agenda prior to the residency. Current students may be granted permission to attend virtual residencies on a case-by-case basis.
See our curriculum page for more information and the residency schedule.
Who Can Benefit
The MSW program online is geared to individuals with busy professional and personal lives who want to expand their knowledge, hone their skills and earn a professional credential that is required for employment or career advancement in the field of social work. Since we offer three distinct paths to degree completion, our students have varying educational and professional backgrounds and may have no professional social work experience. They typically are interested in human nature and social justice and want to make a difference in people’s lives. They include:
- Recent college graduates
- Health and human services workers who want to advance their careers
- Individuals returning to the workforce
- Career changers
Program Benefits
- Our unique blend of online learning and five to six intensive residencies at our Long Island campus offer you a convenient educational option that makes sense for training in a discipline based on human connection.
- Virtual residency option in lieu of on-campus learning, which includes networking opportunities with faculty and peers.
- Distinguished faculty members with diverse research interests and professional backgrounds provide students with an exceptionally rich learning experience.
- You flourish with comprehensive field placement support and benefit from a curriculum geared to licensure — in any state.
- We offer three paths to degree completion, tailored to your educational and professional background.
- Flexible entrance requirements — no GRE required