Traditional MSW Lawrence Campus

Applicants who meet the following criteria will apply to the Traditional plan of study.

• A bachelor's degree from an accredited university
• Undergraduate studies must reflect the successful completion of liberal arts courses, including those in the social sciences and humanities which focus on the development of knowledge in communication; social, biological, and behavioral sciences; history; philosophy and the ways in which knowledge is gained and applied;   and the value of a multicultural and diverse society.
• Undergraduate grade-point average of 3.0 or above is preferred

International students should apply to the Traditional MSW plan of study on the Lawrence, Kansas campus.

Traditional MSW plan of study is offered on the Lawrence campus, Edwards Campus, Kansas State University Salina campus, and online.

You will choose to specialize in either Clinical Practice or Macro Practice. 

Clinical Social Work Practice

Emphasis on a particular field of practice, such as children and families, health, mental health, schools, or aging populations.

Macro Social Work Practice

Emphasis on leadership, social service administration, social policy development and social advocacy.

The School of Social Welfare requires a total of 64 credit hours for the MSW degree, consisting of:

• 36 credit hours of classroom work
• 28 credit hours of practicum

Visit the KU Academic Catalog for full MSW Degree Requirements.

Yes, students can enroll in a part-time, three-year or four-year MSW. Students enrolled in the program will enroll in their practicum in the third year. More information is available on the MSW Part-Time Curriculum webpage.

Upload a professional resume detailing your current/prior work or volunteer experience. Follow a reverse chronological format and include dates and hours per week worked. For helpful resume writing tips, use the following University Career Center resource.

University Career Center resumes webpage

When submitting your resume, be sure to save as a "WORD" (windows compatible) or as a PDF document. Please double-check your formatting after saving it in WORD or PDF, and before uploading the document.

When responding to the following questions, please explicitly reference the School’s Mission and Guiding Principles and the NASW’s Code of Ethics.

Draft a statement that is no more than 3 pages total, typed and double-spaced with one-inch margins. Type each question prior to your answer to that question. This section is also used to evaluate master’s level writing ability. Questions:

1. Given that there are many helping professions (e.g., psychology, nursing, public health, public administration, etc.), why have you chosen to apply for a Master of Social Work (MSW) program?
2. What do you hope to gain from your graduate education? How do your hopes relate to your future plans as a social worker with an MSW degree?

You will be asked to list the contact information for three references in the application. The application system will then email a reference form to each person. 

Note: Choosing to list more than three references will delay application review significantly. Only three references will be included in the review.

Traditional Plan of Study: References should be professional in nature and include those who can speak to the applicant’s ethics, experience with social justice issues, readiness for graduate social work education, skills, abilities and work styles.

Family members and friends are not recommended except in cases of special circumstance, which may be described within the application. 

If you are a current or former KU student, you don’t need to provide official transcripts.

Current and former KU students are not required to request and purchase official KU transcripts, or to provide official KU transcripts or copies of KU transcripts to apply for admission to KU graduate programs. If KU students earned a degree from another institution, they will need to upload copies of those transcripts with their application. 

If you have never attended KU, your application must include official transcripts from each college attended.

For processing purposes, you may attach scanned versions of official transcripts to your application. If you are admitted to a program and accept the admission offer, you will be required to submit an official, final transcript that shows your degree has been conferred. Transcripts must be submitted to Graduate Admissions in one of the following ways:

• Electronically (Preferred Method)
  
  If your institution offers a secure electronic transcript delivery service, you may have transcripts sent to graduateadm@ku.edu
  
   
• Via mail
  
  Transcripts must be sent directly from your institution, in a sealed envelope, to:
  
  Graduate Admissions
  
  University of Kansas
  
  KU Visitor Center
  
  1502 Iowa Street
  
  Lawrence, KS 66045

For more guidance on transcripts from non-U.S. institutions, see the International applicants webpage.

Applicants who have questions about transfer credits should contact Georgiana Spear, graduate admissions coordinator, at admissionsmsw@ku.edu.

Clinical Practice: The clinical social work practice specialization prepares students in the professional application of social work theory and methods to the treatment and prevention of psychosocial problems, disability, or impairment, including emotional and mental disorders. Students expecting to sit for the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) examination two years after the MSW must take the clinical social work practice specialization.

Macro Practice: The macro practice specialization prepares students in the professional application of social work theory and skill to the development and management of social service programs in both public and voluntary human services organizations. 

All applicants who are non-native English speakers must demonstrate English proficiency to be considered for MSW admission. This includes both International Students who reside in the U.S. and outside the U.S. at the time of application. Please consult the English proficiency requirements information from KU Graduate Admissions. 

Note: In order to begin practicum for the MSW Program, Full Proficiency must be met. If Full Proficiency requirements are not met at the time of admission, and additional language requirements are required from the KU Applied English Center, MSW classes and/or practicum may be delayed.

All applications are reviewed by the School upon receipt. To check the status of your application, or to send a reference reminder, please access your applicant status portal.

Once a decision has been made on your application, you will receive an email from KU Graduate Admissions stating your admissions decision is ready.

To view your decision please access your applicant status portal. 

If an offer is made, you will receive an additional email from the School of Social Welfare. All decision notifications are sent via email; this is the official notification of a decision. To ensure your privacy, we are unable to provide admission decisions by telephone. Your decision letter will be found in your applicant status portal.

If you are offered admission, please accept or decline the offer of admission by going to your application status portal and clicking on the "Complete Your Decision Form" button. If accepting the offer, you will also see a screen to submit a credit card payment for the non-refundable $50 seat fee to hold your place in the program. This will complete your “acceptance” processing.