Social Work, B.A.

Program Requirements

The major in social work consists of 48 credits in required social work courses. In addition, 15 credits of specific foundation courses must be completed (ECO 101  , POS 101 , Statistics, PSY 100 , SOC 100 ). Some of these foundation courses may also be used to satisfy the Core Curriculum requirements as appropriate. Students also need 9 credits in social science electives in different disciplines. Thus, 72 credits are needed to complete the social work degree. 

All students must maintain a 2.5 grade point average in social work major courses and a grade of C or better in all major and foundation classes. In order to prepare for field work, students must take SWO 393 , Methods of Social Work I, in the spring semester preceding their senior year.

To qualify for enrollment in SWO 393 , students must: 1) have at least 60 credits by the time of completion of the fall semester preceding SWO 393 ; 2) they must have successfully completed a WRI 2 course with a grade of C or better, a statistics course (MAT 120 , PSY 201  or LOS 120 ), SOC 100 , PSY 100 , POS 101 , ECO 101 , SWO 201 , SWO 250 , SWO 270 , and SWO 365 , and SWO 370  must be taken either prior to taking SWO 393  or concurrently; and 3) they must have a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA overall; 4) For transfer students who have met core requirements, they must take SWO 201 , SWO 250 , SWO 270 , SWO 365  as prerequisites, and SWO 370  must be taken as a prerequisite or corequisite. All students are required to maintain the 2.5 GPA in the social work major and achieve a grade of C or better in all social work and required foundation courses to complete the major. SWO 393   is a service-learning course, and students are required to complete 20 hours of work at an assigned site in the community. 

During the fieldwork year which occurs in the student’s final academic year, each student is placed in a community social service agency approved by and arranged through the School of Social Work. Students apply for fieldwork during spring semester for the upcoming fall while enrolled in SWO 393  during the junior year. Placements begin only in the fall semester and continue through the full academic year. By the end of the spring semester of senior year, each student will have completed 400 hours of field work. Please see the Student Handbook and Field Work manual on our website (http://usm.maine.edu/swo) for additional information about requirements of field work (to be completed in your senior year). All required courses with their prerequisites can be viewed there.

Recommended Course Sequence

Professional Advisors guide students through the core curriculum until they earn 54 credits, when social work faculty advisors then provide assistance to plan a path through foundation (courses in other fields required for the major) and social work major courses. Transfer students may have unique advising needs and may work concurrently with professional and faculty advisors during the transition to USM. Professional and social work faculty advisors collaborate closely to support students. Advising in the School of Social Work is a mutual process of exploring career objectives, reviewing School requirements, designing the best possible combination of required courses and electives, and determining proper course sequencing.  Because many classes have prerequisites, students must carefully sequence their courses with help from their advisors. In addition to the required courses listed below, students must also take one SWO elective course any time after introductory courses are completed.  All USM students must earn 120 credits between core, foundation and major requirements in order to graduate. The model below indicates the desired course sequence for social work majors, in addition to fulfilling the university core requirements. Starred (*) classes indicate the course class is a prerequisite for other social work requirements.

USM Core Requirements

The USM Core Curriculum is a coherent, integrative, and rigorous liberal education that enables our graduates to be world-minded, intentional, life-long learners and captures your general education degree requirements. 

Please Note: Core requirements may be part of your major and/or minor, and Core may have been fulfilled with transfer credit. Please consult your MaineStreet Degree Progress Report (DPR) and review your degree progress with your Advisor.  For additional information, access the USM Core webpage.