Flexible online and on-campus classes. The degree of choice for working professionals seeking a rewarding career in the Social Work profession.
- Earn your degree in as little as 3 years (with transfer credits taking 12 credits per semester).
- Attend classes and field placements that prepare you to provide service to individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities and society.
- Learn while you earn—classes are on an evening schedule.
- Begin your journey towards the Master of Social Work, the terminal degree of the profession.
Program Overview
The Bachelor of Social Work for Professionals program is designed to teach students to provide service to human beings across the lifespan. The program, grounded in the liberal arts curriculum of The Catholic University of America, is a joint project of the National Catholic School of Social Service and the School of Professional Studies.
Social work knowledge and skills are particularly useful in our emerging "service" society, providing an excellent foundation aimed at enriching the quality of life by helping individuals, groups, and communities reach a higher level of development and building a more just society. Social workers are the only professionals trained to work with people from the “person-in-environment” perspective.
With a Bachelor of Social Work for Professionals degree from CUA, there are exciting career opportunities in government agencies, private counseling centers, community services, psychiatric and general hospitals, service centers for the aging, and child welfare services. Challenging opportunities are available in agencies dealing with mental health services, social welfare planning, fundraising, and community relations.
The Bachelor of Social Work for Professionals degree consists of 120 credit hours including courses on human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy, research methods, diversity in a multicultural society and social work practice and over five hundred hours of field practicum experience. Completion of the degree will allow students eligibility to apply for Advanced Standing in a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) program. The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia have licensing options for social work baccalaureate graduates.
Professional Prospects
There are more than 600,000 professional social workers in the United States. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of social workers is projected to grow 16 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations. Increased demand for healthcare and social services will drive demand for social workers, but growth will vary by specialization. Employment of mental health and substance abuse social workers is projected to grow 19 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations.
The Bureau reports the median annual wage for social workers was $47,980 in May 2017--the highest 10 percent earned more than $79,740.
