Master of Social Work (MSW) Programs on Long Island, NY

There are four schools with campuses on Long Island that offer Master of Social Work (MSW) programs: Adelphi University; Fordham University; Long Island University (LIU); and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook University). Adelphi University, Fordham University, and LIU are private universities, while Stony Brook University is part of the publicly funded SUNY system. The LIU program is jointly offered through LIU Post, which is located in the village of Brookville on Long Island, and LIU Brooklyn in New York City.

All four of these schools offer at least one full-length, traditional MSW program. These programs are designed for students who hold a bachelor’s degree in any field or discipline and who may or may not have had prior academic training in social work. All four schools also offer advanced standing MSW programs designed for graduates of Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The programs offered by these schools are fully accredited by the CSWE.

• Adelphi University (Accredited)
• Fordham University (Accredited)
• Long Island University Post and Long Island University Brooklyn Collaborative (Accredited)
• State University of New York at Stony Brook (Accredited)

The sections below provide details on each of the MSW programs offered by Adelphi University, Fordham University, LIU, and Stony Brook University. Traditional MSW programs are grouped separately from advanced standing MSW programs. Within those groupings, programs that are campus-based are grouped separately from online programs, of which there is currently only one offered by a school with a campus on Long Island. Hybrid programs that combine online and on-campus instruction are classified as campus-based programs if they require students to attend more than two in-person sessions per year.

• Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs on Long Island
• Traditional Online MSW Programs on Long Island
• Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs on Long Island
• Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs on Long Island
• Directory of All MSW Programs on Long Island

Traditional MSW Programs on Long Island

The four accredited universities that offer MSW programs through campuses located on Long Island all have traditional MSW programs offered either in a fully campus-based format or in a hybrid format that incorporates online instruction. A traditional program is defined as a master’s program in social work that is accredited by the CSWE and that is designed for bachelor’s program graduates regardless of their undergraduate major. These programs do not require applicants to have studied social work or to have earned a bachelor’s degree in social work.

Students in a traditional MSW program are provided with foundational training and instruction in social work, which typically takes place during the first year of a two-year MSW program. During the second year of a two-year program students receive specialization training in clinical and/or macro practice social work. As part of a traditional program that is accredited by the CSWE, students are required to engage in a minimum of 900 hours of field education, a signature pedagogy in social work that involves supervised, practice-based learning experiences at agencies and organizations that provide social work services. Completing a traditional MSW program generally takes two years of full-time enrollment or three to four years of part-time enrollment.

Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs on Long Island

Adelphi University offers a traditional MSW program at its main Long Island campus is in Garden City, and at its Suffolk Center campus in Hauppauge on Long Island. The program has an Advanced Contemporary Direct Practice curriculum with specializations in: Children and Families; Health Across the Life Course; Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Trauma in Context; and Human Service Management and Organizational Leadership. The curriculum incorporates 950 hours of required field education and has two full-time enrollment options. Students can earn their degree in as few as 16 months of full-time study by opting for year-round enrollment that includes one summer session, or they can graduate in two years if they choose not to enroll in summer classes. Traditional standing students can also opt for part-time enrollment and take three to four years to complete their degree.

Adelphi University also has a Bilingual School Social Work MSW program that supplements the curriculum offered by the School of Social Work with courses taught through the university’s College of Education and Health Sciences. The Bilingual School Social Work program prepares students to become school social workers in the State of New York and has a five-semester, full-time completion plan. Students can also enroll on a part-time basis and have up to four years to earn their degree.

Fordham University, which has its main campus in Manhattan, offers a traditional MSW program at Long Island’s Molloy University in Rockville Centre. The 66-credit program has an Advanced Integrative Practice curriculum that prepares students for careers in clinical and macro practice social work, and it gives students the option of four focus areas: Individuals and Families; Organizations and Communities; Evaluation; and Policy Practice and Advocacy. The Molloy University campus program gives students the option of attending all of their classes on site in Rockville Centre or combining campus-based classes with online instruction. Traditional standing students in the program can earn their degree in as few as 16 months of full-time enrollment or take three to four years by completing the program on a part-time basis. The program incorporates 1200 hours of field education.

The Long Island University Post (LIU Post) and Long Island University Brooklyn (LIU Brooklyn) Collaborative offers its MSW program at the LIU campus in Brookville on Long Island. Traditional standing students are required to complete a 60-credit curriculum that includes 1000 hours of field education. This is a campus-based program and students in the program can choose from five concentrations: Substance Use and Addictive Behaviors; Child and Family Welfare; Forensic Social Work; Gerontology; and Nonprofit Management. Students who are interested in earning a graduation certificate in Nonprofit Management, Gerontology, or Forensic Social Work can do so by taking one additional course while earning their MSW degree. The LIU program has a two-year completion plan for students who opt for full-time enrollment, as well as three-year and four-year completion plans for part-time students.

The State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook University) offers a traditional, campus-based MSW program at its main campus on Long Island. This is a 68-credit, full-length master’s program that incorporates 924 hours of field education and takes two years to complete. The program’s curriculum gives students three specialization options: Community, Policy, and Political Social Action (CPPSA); Families, Youth, and Transition to Adulthood (FYT); and Integrated Health: Physical, Psychological, and Social Well Being (IH). Students who would prefer to enroll in the Stony Brook program on a part-time basis can typically earn their degree in three to four years.

Traditional Online MSW Programs on Long Island

Adelphi University is currently the only Long Island-based school that offers an online MSW program for traditional standing students. The program can be completed entirely online and includes two virtual residencies that take place over two to four days in August and January. While all of the program’s coursework is offered online, students are required to engage in 950 hours of site-based field education. Adelphi University’s online MSW program provides students with an Advanced Contemporary Direct Practice curriculum that has an optional Health Across the Life Course specialization. It is a part-time program with a three-year completion plan.

Advanced Standing MSW Programs on Long Island

Advanced standing status is granted to MSW program applicants who graduated from CSWE-accredited Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programs, provided they meet other admissions requirements. An advanced standing MSW program track is designed for students who have already taken foundational social work courses and engaged in several hundred hours of field education at the undergraduate level. Students who have met these benchmarks through a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program are not required to repeat foundational courses at the graduate level and are also credited with up to half of the field education hours they would otherwise be required to engage in while earning their MSW degree. This allows advanced standing students to earn an MSW degree in one year of full-time enrollment, or roughly half the time it takes traditional standing students to earn their degree.

It is important to note that many MSW programs require advanced standing applicants to have earned their BSW degree within the last five, six, or seven years. Applicants may also be required to meet other admissions criteria in order to qualify for advanced standing status, such as demonstrating academic excellence through a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher in all of their college coursework or in their social work major courses. BSW graduates who do not qualify for advanced standing status can still earn their MSW degree by enrolling in a traditional MSW program.

Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs on Long Island

Adelphi University offers an MSW program with an advanced standing track at two campus locations on Long Island: its main campus in Garden City; and its Suffolk Center campus in Hauppauge. To qualify for advanced standing status, applicants to the program must have a BSW degree conferred by a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program within the last five years, as well as a grade of B or better in in all social work major courses. Students who are granted advanced standing status can earn their degree in one year (two semesters) of full-time enrollment or extend their time to completion by two semesters and graduate in two years of part-time enrollment. Advanced standing students in the program engage in 475 hours of field education while earning their degree. The MSW program has an Advanced Contemporary Direct Practice curriculum with four specializations: Children and Families; Health across the Life Course; Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Trauma in Context; and Human Service Management and Organizational Leadership.

Fordham University offers its advanced standing MSW program track at the Molloy University campus in Rockville Centre on Long Island. The program accepts advanced standing applications from BSW graduates who earned their degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program and whose cumulative undergraduate GPA is at least 3.0 on a four-point scale. The advanced standing program track offered by Fordham University’s School of Social Service can be completed in as few as eight months of full-time enrollment or in 16 months by students who opt for part-time enrollment. The program includes one 600-hour field practicum. Students in the program receive training and instruction in Advanced Integrative Practice social work and can choose from four concentrations: Individuals and Families; Organizations and Communities; Evaluation; and Policy Practice and Advocacy. Fordham University’s program at Molloy University is offered in a fully campus-based format and in a hybrid format that combines campus-based and online instruction.

The Long Island University Post (LIU Post) and Long Island University Brooklyn (LIU Brooklyn) Collaborative has a joint MSW program with an advanced standing track for students who hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program with a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a four-point scale. Upon admission to the program, students who are granted advanced standing status can have up to 30 of the traditional program track’s 60 credits waived, provided that those credits were earned in a comparable BSW course with a passing grade of B or better. This is a campus-based program that has five concentrations: Substance Use and Addictive Behaviors; Child and Family Welfare; Forensic Social Work; Gerontology; and Nonprofit Management. Students who opt for the Nonprofit Management, Gerontology, or Forensic Social Work specialization can earn a graduate certificate in their chosen field of specialization by completing one additional course while earning their degree. Advanced standing students are required to complete 600 hours of field education and typically graduate in one year of full-time enrollment.

The State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook University) offers its MSW in an advanced standing format that requires applicants to have received a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program within the last five years. The program, which combines campus-based classes with some online instruction, has three options for specialization: Community, Policy, and Political Social Action (CPPSA); Families, Youth, and Transition to Adulthood (FYT); and Integrated Health: Physical, Psychological, and Social Well Being (IH). The advanced standing curriculum offered by Stony Brook University consists of 37 credits, inclusive of 693 hours of field education. The program has a one-year completion time for students who enroll on a full-time basis. Part-time students can complete the advanced standing program requirements in one and a half to two years.

Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs on Long Island

Adelphi University has an online MSW program that is offered in an advanced standing format for qualified BSW graduates whose degree was conferred by a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program within the last five years. Advanced standing applicants are also required to have received a grade of B or better in all of their undergraduate social work major courses. Advanced standing students complete a 32-credit curriculum with an Advanced Contemporary Direct Practice focus and a specialization in Health Across the Life Span. The program can be completed fully online and includes two, two-to-four-day virtual residences per year in August and January. In addition, advanced standing students are required to engage in 475 hours of site-based field education. Adelphi University’s advanced standing MSW program can be completed in 15-months.