Master of Social Work (MSW) Programs in Greater St. Louis

The Greater St. Louis bi-state metropolitan area, which encompasses the city of St. Louis and surrounding areas in the states of Missouri and Illinois, is home to five universities that offer Master of Social Work (MSW) degree programs. This includes one public university in Illinois – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) – and four Missouri schools: Missouri Baptist University (MBU) in Creve Coeur, Saint Louis University (SLU), the University of Missouri-St. Louis (USML), and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU).

SIUE, SLU, USML and WashU offer MSW programs that are either fully or partially campus based, while MBU offers a fully online program. All of these schools offer programs with traditional tracks for students who hold a bachelor’s degree, and advanced standing tracks designed for college graduates who earned a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree from an undergraduate program accredited by the Council on Social Work (CSWE). As noted below, all five schools are fully accredited by the CSWE.

• Missouri Baptist University (Accredited)
• Saint Louis University (Accredited)
• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Accredited)
• University of Missouri-St. Louis (Accredited)
• Washington University in St. Louis (Accredited)

In the sections below, MSW programs offered by schools in Greater St. Louis are grouped based on admissions requirements (traditional vs. advanced standing) and instruction method (campus-based vs. online). Each section provides relevant details on individual programs, including information on curricula, and format variations.

• Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis
• Traditional Online MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis
• Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis
• Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis
• Directory of All MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis

Traditional MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis

The five universities in Greater St. Louis that offer MSW program each have a full-length, traditional program track designed to prepare bachelor’s program graduates for careers in clinical and/or macro practice social work. These programs do not require applicants to have majored in social work or to have earned a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program. Traditional standing students in an MSW program typically take two years to earn their degree if they commit to full-time enrollment. Part-time enrollment in a traditional program generally leads to graduating in three to four years.

As part of a traditional MSW program, students are required to complete a minimum of 900 hours of field education, a signature pedagogy in social work that involves site-based internships at agencies, clinics, hospitals, and/or community organizations where social work services are delivered. Many programs, whether they are offered in a campus-based format, an online format, or both, assist students in finding convenient sites for field placements. Four of the five schools in Greater St. Louis offer traditional MSW programs that are designed to be completed on-campus or through a hybrid of on-campus and online instruction. One of the five schools offers a fully online MSW program that does not require any campus visits.

Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis

Saint Louis University (SLU) has a traditional MSW program with a flexible format that gives students the choice of enrolling in campus-based and/or online courses. The program gives students the choice of three concentrations: Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA); Clinical Practice; and Community and Organization macro practice. The 53-credit hour ABA concentration prepares students for the Behavioral Analysis Certification Board professional certification and thus requires 1575 hours of field education. The 48-credit clinical and macro practice concentrations require 900 hours of field education. The completion time for SLU’s MSW program is two years for full-time students and up to four years for part-time students.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), a state-funded university in Illinois that is located in the Metro East area of Greater St. Louis, offers an MSW program that has an Advanced Generalist specialization. Students in the full-length, traditional program track receive training and instruction in clinical and macro practice social work while completing 950 hours of field education. Courses are offered on campus in the evenings and in a blended format that integrates some online instruction. This is a 60-credit program that full-time students can complete in two years. Part-time students are allotted four years to earn their degree.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) has a campus-based MSW program that offers traditional standing students a choice between two specializations: Family Practice (clinical social work); and Leadership and Social Change (macro social work). The program’s curriculum features three optional concentrations: Aging and Social Work Practice; Health & Behavioral Health; and School Social Work. Students in this program are required to complete 60 credits, which includes 900 hours of field education. Students admitted to USML’s traditional MSW program track can earn their degree in two years of full-time enrollment.

Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) has two campus-based MSW program options that are designed for students who hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. The Brown School at WashU offers a fully campus-based MSW program that takes two years to complete and that requires students to complete 60 credits and engage in 960 hours of field education. The program that has nine designated concentrations: American Indian & Alaska Native (with tracks in Trauma-Informed Direct Practice, Behavioral Health Direct Practice, and Community Practice); Children, Youth, & Families (with tracks in Direct Practice, School Social Work, and Urban Education); Health; Individualized; Mental Health (with tracks in Clinical Social Work, Child Behavioral Health, Integrated Behavioral Health, and Clinical Social Work in Substance Use Disorder Treatment); Older Adults and Aging Societies; Domestic Social & Economic Development; International Social & Economic Development; Social Impact Leadership (with tracks in Organizational Leadership & Management, and Innovation & Social Entrepreneurship); and Violence and Injury Prevention. In addition, students in the full-time, campus-based program can choose from six specializations: Management; Policy; Research; Sexual Health and Education; Social Entrepreneurship; and System Dynamics.

WashU also offers a part-time MSW program that is designed for working professionals. The program combines online instruction with campus-based classes that meet in the evenings and on weekends. The completion time for the part-time program is 3.5 years of year-round enrollment (fall, spring, and summer terms). Students begin and progress through the program with a cohort and follow a 60-credit plan of study that includes two courses per semester and five field practicums that add up to a total 960 hours of field education. The concentration offered to students in WashU’s part-time program is Clinical Social Work with a focus on Mental Health.

Traditional Online MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis

Missouri Baptist University (MBU) offers a fully online traditional MSW program in which students receive all of the program’s didactic instruction via live-streamed evening classes and web-based instruction. In addition to online coursework, students in the program are required to complete 900 hours of field education in person at program approved sites. The MSW program offered by MBU has an Advanced Generalist Social Work Practice curriculum that is designed to prepare students for careers in clinical and/or macro practice social work. Students who qualify for the program’s traditional track can earn their degree in two years of full-time enrollment or three years of part-time enrollment.

Advanced Standing MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis

Eligible graduates from CSWE-accredited undergraduate programs can earn their MSW degree in roughly half the time it takes to complete a traditional MSW program by enrolling in an advanced standing MSW program track. To be granted advanced standing status, MSW program applicants typically must meet several admissions requirements in addition to holding a BSW degree. For example, many programs require advanced standing applicants to have earned their BSW degree within the last five, six, or seven years. In addition, some programs prefer or require applicants to have a minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a four-point scale, and/or to have earned a grade of B or better in their social work major courses.

A typical advanced standing MSW curriculum is comprised of roughly one year (two to three semesters) of full-time coursework and field education. Part-time advanced standing students can generally complete their degree in two years, depending on the program’s academic calendar and how many credits are earned per semester. While many BSW program graduates are eligible for advanced standing program tracks, some may have to enroll in a traditional program track in order to earn their degree, depending on a program’s admissions requirements.

All five schools in Greater St. Louis that offer MSW programs have at least one advanced standing program track. One school, Missouri Baptist University (MBU), offers an online MSW program with an advanced standing track.

Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis

Saint Louis University (SLU) offers an MSW program through its School of Social Work. The program has an advanced standing track that requires applicants to hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program and to have maintained a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better on a four-point scale. The program has three concentration options: Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA); Clinical Practice; and Community and Organization macro practice social work. Students complete 33 to 38 credits and 600 to 1275 hours of field education, depending on the concentration. The Clinical Practice and Community and Organization concentrations require 33 credits and 600 hours of field education, while the ABA concentration requires 38 credits and 1275 hours of field education. The completion time for advanced standing students in the program is one to two years.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), which is located in the Metro East area of Greater St. Louis, offers its Advanced Generalist MSW program in an Advanced Standing format for qualified students who hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program, provided that degree was conferred within the last seven years. In addition, the Department of Social Work at SIUE prefers applicants whose cumulative undergraduate GPA is 3.0 or higher on a four-point scale and requires advanced standing applicants to have completed a statistics course with a final grade of B or better. The MSW curriculum is designed to prepare students for careers in clinical and/or macro practice social work and requires advanced standing students to engage in 500 hours of field education. Courses are offered in the evenings and in a hybrid format that blends in-person and online instruction. Advanced standing students can complete the SIUE program in one year of full-time enrollment or two-years of part-time enrollment.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) offers its campus-based MSW program in an advanced standing format for students who graduated from a CSWE-accredited BSW program whose degree was conferred within the last five years. Students granted advanced standing status by the School of Social Work at UMSL may have up to 24 of the 60 credits required waived, which reduces the program’s completion time to one year for full-time students. To establish eligibility for credit waivers, BSW graduates must have earned a grade of B or better in an equivalent social work major course. The MSW program has two specializations: Family Practice (clinical); and Leadership and Social Change (macro). Students can choose from three additional concentrations: Aging and Social Work Practice; Health & Behavioral Health; and School Social Work. UMSL’s advanced standing track includes two 300-hour practicums for a total of 600 hours of field education.

Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) has a campus-based MSW program with an advanced standing track that requires applicants to have earned a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program within the last six years. The advanced standing track credits students will all BSW major courses and field practicums successfully completed with a grade of B or better, reducing the number of credits required to graduate to 39 for students who qualify for all advanced standing credit waivers (the traditional standing track requires 60 credits). The advanced standing curriculum offered by WashU includes one 600-hour field practicum and can be completed in 12 or 16 months.

WashU’s campus-based MSW program has nine designated concentrations: American Indian & Alaska Native (with tracks in Trauma-Informed Direct Practice, Behavioral Health Direct Practice, and Community Practice); Children, Youth, & Families (with tracks in Direct Practice, School Social Work, and Urban Education); Health; Individualized; Mental Health (with tracks in Clinical Social Work, Child Behavioral Health, Integrated Behavioral Health, and Clinical Social Work in Substance Use Disorder Treatment); Older Adults and Aging Societies; Domestic Social & Economic Development; International Social & Economic Development; Social Impact Leadership (with tracks in Organizational Leadership & Management, and Innovation & Social Entrepreneurship); and Violence and Injury Prevention. The program also gives students the choice of six specializations: Management; Policy; Research; Sexual Health and Education; Social Entrepreneurship; and System Dynamics.

Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs in Greater St. Louis

Missouri Baptist University (MBU) offers a fully online MSW program that has an advanced standing track for BSW program graduates. To be eligible for advanced standing status, applicants must hold a BSW degree conferred within the last seven years from a CSWE-accredited program. The MBU online MSW program provides training and instruction in clinical and macro practice social work through an Advanced Generalist Social Work Practice curriculum and includes 900 hours of field education. Applicants who are granted advanced standing status can earn their degree in one year of full-time enrollment or two years of part-time enrollment.