Accelerated Graduate Pathway to Master of Social Work

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For highly motivated undergraduate students who are already looking ahead to graduate school, USM offers an Accelerated Graduate Pathway from the Sociology, Social and Behavioral Science, and Women and Gender Studies majors to the MSW program that allows you to begin graduate study while completing your bachelor’s degree, saving you time and money. This means you’ll be ready for a career that much sooner, with your bachelor’s and master’s degrees in hand.

Program Requirements for Sociology to MSW:

In order to gain full admission to the Master of Social Work program via the Sociology major, a student must do all of the following:

Maintain a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.
Declare the accelerated pathway prior to the third year of undergraduate study (~54 credits).
Successfully complete SWO 501 Multicultural Social Work in fall of fourth year (~84 credits) with a grade of B- or better.
Complete and submit a graduate application by October 15 of the fourth year of undergraduate study. This includes, but is not limited to, an essay (criteria can be found on the USM School of Social Work website), and three letters of recommendation (one from the internship faculty supervisor; one from Sociology or MSW faculty; and one from someone in a position to assess the applicant’s ability to become a social worker or be successful in graduate academic work).
Complete SWO 504 Social Welfare Policy I, and SWO 505 Social Work Research I in spring of fourth year with a grade of B- or better in each. Both of these courses may be used as Sociology program electives.
Follow the additional guidelines for MSW applicants as outlined on the Graduate Admissions website.

A maximum of 15 credits of graduate work taken while an undegraduate student may be applied to the graduate program. Students may take SWO 501, 504, 505, and two SWO electives (that substitute for two SOC electives). In total four of these may be used as undergraduate major electives, and any additional SWO courses taken would be used as general elective credits. There are still 2 SOC undergraduate electives that must be completed for a total of six SOC electives in the undergraduate major.

Please note: this pathway is NOT equivalent to Advanced Standing. In order to utilize Advanced Standing, a student must have earned a BSW from an accredited program within the last seven years, have earned a 3.0 cumulative GPA, and have completed all BSW degree requirements by May of the year they intend to enter the MSW program.

Program Requirements for SBS to MSW:

In order to gain full admission to the Master of Social Work program via the SBS major, a student must do all of the following:

Maintain an cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.
Declare the accelerated pathway prior to the third year of undergraduate study (~54 credits).
Complete SWO 501 Multicultural Social Work in the fall of the fourth year of study (~84 credits) with a grade of B- or better. (SWO 501 replaces either the SBS counseling concentration diversity course requirement, or one of the six required SBS electives.)
Submit a completed application to the MSW program no later than October 15 of the fourth year of study. This includes (but is not limited to) an essay (criteria can be found on the USM School of Social Work website), three letters of recommendation (one from the internship supervisor; one from SBS Chair or SBS faculty, or a faculty member from the MSW program; and one from a person who is positioned to assess the student’s capacity to become a social worker or to undertake graduate study).
Complete SWO 504 Social Welfare Policy I, and SWO 505 Social Work Research I in the sprin of the 4th year of study with a grade of B- or better in each. (SWO 505 replaces SBS 329 Research Methods, which is a required course in the SBS major. SWO 504 may be used as an SBS elective.)
Follow the additional guidelines for MS in Social Work applicants as outlined on the Graduate Admissions website.

Program Requirements for WGS to MSW

In order to gain full admission to the Master of Social Work program via the Women and Gender Studies major, a student must do all of the following:

Maintain a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.
Declare the accelerated pathway prior to the third year of undergraduate study.
Complete SWO 501 Social Work Research I in Fall of the 4th year of study (~84 credits) with a grade of B- or better.
Complete and submit a graduate application by October 15 of the fourth year of undergraduate study. This includes, but is not limited to an essay (criteria can be found on the USM School of Social Work website), and three letters of recommendation (one from the internship faculty supervisor; one from WGS or MSW faculty; and one from someone in a position to assess the applicant’s ability to become a social worker or be successful in graduate academic work).
Complete SWO 504 Social Welfare Policy I and SWO 505 Social Work Research I in spring of the fourth year of study with a grade of B- or better in each. Please note: only SWO 501 and 504 replace WGS electives. SWO 505 may be used as a general elective in the undergraduate program.
Follow the additional guidelines for MSW applicants as outlined on the Graduate Admissions website.

In addition to the overlap WGS/SWO courses (SWO 501, 504, and two SWO electives that substitute for two WGS electives), students must also take a minimum of two WGS electives for a minimum total of six WGS electives.