Master of Social Work (MSW) Programs in the Greater Austin Area – Campus and Online

The Greater Austin Area, a metropolitan region consisting of the five counties in and around the Texas state capital, is home to two universities that offer Master of Social Work (MSW) programs: Texas State University (TXST); and The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). Both universities have traditional, campus-based MSW programs, which are programs designed for students who hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and who prefer to attend classes in-person on a university campus. For Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) graduates who earned their degree from an undergraduate program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), TXST and UT Austin have campus-based advanced standing programs, which offer qualified applicants a shorter pathway to earning their MSW. In addition, TXST offers a fully-online MSW program with tracks for traditional and advanced standing students.

The programs offered by TXST and UT Austin provide training and instruction in clinical and macro practice social work. TXST’s program has an advanced generalist curriculum that combines training in clinical and macro practice, while UT Austin gives students the choice of pursing advanced training in macro practice or clinical practice. Both programs are designed to prepare students to apply for a state clinical social work license if they wish to pursue licensure post-graduation, and both are fully accredited by the CSWE.

• Texas State University (Accredited)
• The University of Texas at Austin (Accredited)

Detailed information about the MSW programs offered by TXST and UT Austin are provided in the sections below. Prospective students can research programs based on their admissions requirements (traditional vs. advanced standing programs) and delivery method (on-campus vs. online programs).

• Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area
• Traditional Online MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area
• Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area
• Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area
• Directory of All MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area

Traditional MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area

A traditional MSW program is a full-length master’s program that provides professional training and instruction in clinical and/or macro practice social work. Students in a traditional program are typically required to complete roughly 60 credits of didactic coursework and field instruction, a process that takes four or five semesters (two years) of full-time enrollment. Part-time enrollment in a traditional MSW program generally adds one or more years to the overall completion time, which means graduating in three to four years. Field education is an integral component of training to become a social worker and the CSWE requires accredited programs to ensure that MSW graduates have completed a minimum of 900 hours of field training. This means that all MSW students, regardless of whether they are earning their degree on campus, online, or in a hybrid format that combines campus-based and online coursework, must complete several in-person field practicums at social work agencies, human services organizations, or in other settings in which social work services are administered.

The baseline requirement for admission to a traditional MSW program is a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Traditional program applicants are not required to have majored in social work or to hold a BSW degree. There are two schools that offer traditional campus-based MSW programs in the Greater Austin Area and one school that has a online traditional MSW program.

Traditional Campus-Based MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area

Texas State University (TXST) has a traditional MSW program that is offered through the university’s School of Social Work on campus in San Marcos, which is located less than an hour from downtown Austin. Applicants are expected to hold a bachelor’s degree conferred by a regionally accredited college or university and to have attained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.9 or higher on a four-point scale in their most recent 60 credits of coursework. The program has an Advanced Practice Leaderships (APL) specialization that provides advanced generalist training and instruction in clinical and macro practice social work, with optional electives in area such as gerontology, social work with military and veterans, diversity, and social work in healthcare settings. This is a 62-credit program that requires 900 hours of field education. Full-time students take three courses per semester and can graduate in roughly two years, while part-time enrollment (two courses per semester) gives students up to four years to complete their degree.

The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) offers a traditional CSWE-accredited Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) program through the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the university’s main campus in Austin. The MSSW degree is equivalent to an MSW degree in terms of curricular requirements and training. Students in the program complete a full-length curriculum consisting of 60 credits of graduate coursework, including 1020 hours of field education. Applicants are required to hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, to have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher on a four-point scale in all upper-division undergraduate courses, and to have earned a grade of C or better in a college-level statistics course. UT Austin’s MSSW program has two specialization options: Clinical Social Work; and Administration and Policy Practice. It also allows MSW students to earn certificates in Military Social Work Practice, School-Based Social Work Practice, or Health Care Social Work while completing their degree. The time to completion for full-time students is two years. The program also has six-semester and ten-semester part-time enrollment plans.

Traditional Online MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area

Texas State University (TXST) is currently the only school in the Greater Austin Area that has a CSWE-accredited online MSW program. The School of Social Work at TXST offers its Advanced Practice Leadership (APL) MSW program in an online format for students who hold a bachelor’s degree in any field with a cumulative GPA of 2.9 or higher on a four-point scale in their most recent 60 credits of undergraduate coursework. The APL curriculum provides advanced generalist training and instruction in clinical and macro practice social work and includes 900 hours of site-based field education. Traditional standing students can complete the program’s 62 credits on a full-time basis in two years or take up to four years to earn their degree through part-time enrollment.

Advanced Standing MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area

Graduates from BSW programs that are accredited by the CSWE may be eligible to complete their MSW degree in roughly half the time it takes traditional standing students by enrolling in an advanced standing program. Students who qualify for advanced standing status are credited with the foundational courses in social work and field education hours completed at the undergraduate level and thus begin their MSW studies in what would otherwise be the second year of a full-time traditional program. With fewer credits required, advanced standing students are commonly able to earn an MSW degree in one year of full-time enrollment or two years of part-time enrollment. This includes engaging in 450 or more hours of field education.

It is important to note that admission to an advanced standing program is not automatic. It is common for programs to require advanced standing applicants to have earned their BSW degree within the last five to ten years. Many programs have additional requirements for advanced standing applicants, such as a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a four-point scale. BSW graduates who do not qualify for an advanced standing program can earn their MSW degree by enrolling in a traditional MSW program.

Advanced Standing Campus-Based MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area

Texas State University (TXST) offers its campus-based Advanced Practice Leadership (APL) MSW program in an advanced standing format for qualified BSW graduates who earned their undergraduate degree from a CSWE-accredited program within the last ten years. Students are expected to have a minimum undergraduate GPA of at least 2.9 in the last 60 credit hours of their undergraduate program including all undergraduate social work major courses. The advanced standing track consists of 36 credits of specialization coursework, including 500 hours of field education. The program’s APL curriculum provides training and instruction in both clinical and macro practice social work. Students who opt for full-time enrollment can complete the advanced standing program at TXST in four consecutive semesters, or just over one year inclusive of one summer term. Students who enroll on a part-time basis generally take six semesters to earn their degree.

The University of Texas at Austin’s (UT Austin) Steve Hicks School of Social Work offers a Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) program, which is essentially the same as an MSW program in terms of course content and training requirements. The CSWE-accredited program is offered on campus and has an advanced standing option that accepts applications from CSWE-accredited BSW programs. In addition to holding a BSW degree, applicants are required to have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher on a four-point scale in upper-division courses, as well as a grade of C or better in a college-level statistics course. Advanced standing students at UT Austin begin their MSW studies by choosing from among the program’s two specialization options: Clinical Social Work; and Administration and Policy. They can then complete their degree in four or eight semesters (two or four years), which includes 540 hours of field education. The program also offers optional certificates in Military Social Work Practice, School-Based Social Work Practice, and Health Care Social Work.

Advanced Standing Online MSW Programs in the Greater Austin Area

Texas State University (TXST) has a fully online advanced standing MSW program option that requires applicants to hold a BSW degree from a CSWE-accredited undergraduate program and to have earned that degree within the last ten years. The program also requires applicants to have achieved a minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.9 in all social work major courses and in the last 60 credits of their undergraduate degree program. This is a 36-credit program with an Advanced Practice Leadership (APL) specialization that includes training and instruction in clinical and macro practice social work. The program requires students to complete 500 hours of field education. Students who pursue their degree full-time can complete TXST’s online advanced standing MSW program in four semesters or in just over one year if they take courses year-round. Students also have the option to pursue their degree on a part-time basis, which typically leads to graduating in six semesters or two years.

Directory of All Master of Social Work Programs in the Greater Austin Area

T Traditional programs, Advanced Standing programs, Campus programs, Hybrid programs (campus and online instruction), Hybrid-Online programs (3 to ~6 campus visits per year), Online programs (fully online to 2 campus visits per year)

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