Social Work Frequently Asked Questions

• UCCS students who have fewer than 60 credits should begin their social work studies by declaring a social work major. Students can declare a Social Work major at any time however declaring a Social Work major does not guarantee acceptance into the BSW program.

• Once students have completed 60 credits (in-progress coursework can be counted), they can apply on the UCCS BSW program website by submitting their BSW Writing Sample.

• “In-progress coursework can be counted” means that courses and credits that you are currently taking can be counted toward the 60 credits required to apply to the BSW program.
  • For example, if you have completed 45 total credits, and are currently enrolled in an taking 15 credits, you can apply for the BSW program.

• Evidence of 60 completed credit hours (in-progress coursework will be considered)
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.4 for current UCCS students and transfer students
• Successful completion of three prerequisite courses
  • SWRK 1001, SOC 1110, PSY 1000 (or equivalent SOC, PSY courses)
• Submission of a writing sample used to evaluate your writing skills and your readiness for admission to the BSW program.
  • BSW program writing samples can be submitted through the following link: BSW Writing Sample or emailed directly to the BSW Director.
  • For the writing sample, please choose and respond to one of the following three questions; list the question and then your response. Your answer should demonstrate your interest in and commitment to social work, social justice, and social change. Responses should be double spaced and no more than 500 words.
    1. Beyond your personal desire to help people, why have you chosen social work as a profession over another profession or major?
    2. How have your life experiences and identities shaped your understanding of power and privilege?
    3. Reflect upon a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged. How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your belief?

Upon successful completion of the application requirements, students will be admitted to the BSW program and permitted to complete upper-division courses.

• More information about the admission process is included in the BSW handbook.

• Yes! Applicants with a Baccalaureate social work degree (BSW) earned within the last 10 years from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher are able to apply for Advanced Standing when they apply for their MSW.

• Advanced Standing at the UCCS MSW program allows students to complete their MSW coursework in as little at 36 credits over 3 semesters.  The prerequisites for admission to the advanced standing UCCS MSW program include a Baccalaureate social work degree from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education earned within 10 years of MSW program Admission and an undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher.  The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required for admission to the advanced standing MSW program.

• Students pursuing a BSW at UCCS are required to complete a 2-semester field placement during their senior year.
• Students complete 200 field placement hours, each semester, for a total of 400 hours of field placement during their senior year.
• Students work with the BSW field director to be placed in a social service agency where they will complete their hours under the supervision of a BSW or MSW field instructor.

• It is part of UCCS’s mission to assist students in finding a financial aid package that makes it possible to obtain a degree. Students interested in seeking federal financial aid must first be admitted into the undergraduate program and must also file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the end of February each year. The primary source of information about need based student financial assistance as well as scholarships and other non-need based aid is the UCCS Office of Financial Aid, Student Employment and Scholarships.

• Tuition is based on residency and the number of credits taken. You can find detailed information on tuition the Cost of a UCCS Degree at the following link: Cost of a UCCS Degree.
• You can also estimate your bill through Student Financial Services through the following link: Estimate Your Bill.

The UCCS BSW Program has achieved Candidacy for Accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation.

Candidacy for a bachelor’s social work program by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation indicates that it has made progress toward meeting criteria for the assessment of program quality evaluated through a peer review process.  A program that has attained Candidacy has demonstrated a commitment to meeting the compliance standards set by the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, but has not yet demonstrated full compliance. 

Students who enter programs that attain Candidacy in or before the academic year in which they begin their program of study will be retroactively recognized as having graduated from a CSWE-accredited program once the program attains Initial Accreditation.  Candidacy is typically a three-year process and attaining Candidacy does not guarantee that a program will eventually attain Initial Accreditation.  Candidacy applies to all program sites and program delivery methods of an accredited program.  Accreditation provides reasonable assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program.

 For more information about social work accreditation, you may contact Accreditation.

• The prerequisites for admission to the UCCS MSW program for full time and extended study applicants include a four-year undergraduate degree from an institution accredited by a recognized regional accrediting association (or the equivalent thereof as determined by the UCCS International Admissions if degree was earned outside of the U.S.) with grades sufficiently high to indicate ability to pursue graduate work (typically a grade point average of 3.0 or better). 

• Successful MSW applicants may have majored in any field for the undergraduate degree.  However, sufficient undergraduate preparation and training for graduate study in social welfare is required.  We operationalize this as significant academic preparation in the social sciences roughly defined as at least 18 social science credits (anthropology, economics, ethnic studies, ethics, geography, history, linguistics, political science, psychology, sociology, etc.; in any combination).

• The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required for admission to the MSW program.

More information about the admission process is included in the MSW handbook

• We do not require the GRE as we will instead consider other indicators including prior academic performance, responses to a few short (500 word or less) writing prompts (e.g., professional statement), and references. 

More information about the admission process is included in the MSW handbook

In general, applicants must submit the following:

• Online Graduate School Application
• $60 non-refundable application fee ($100 for international students)
• Official transcripts from all institutions of higher education attended
• Contact information for 2 professional references (It is recommended that applicants select a cross-section of references, including employers, faculty or other individuals who have evaluated the applicant’s work and can speak to the student’s academic abilities and/or related paid work or volunteer experience)
• NOTE:  Students applying to the advanced standing program must submit a copy of a field placement evaluation(s). If the applicant has not completed a placement but is currently enrolled in field, an evaluation from the field instructor or liaison must be included with the application.
• Current resume detailing education, volunteer and employment experiences, including beginning and ending month and year as well as the average hours worked or volunteered per week. Work or volunteer experience cannot be considered without this information.
• Professional statements (500 to 1,000 words for each question) are also required.

More information about the admission process is included in the MSW handbook

• Professional statements (500 to 1,000 words for each question) are also required. The professional statement should address each of the following:

• Prompt 1.  Describe a social problem that relates to social justice. (Indicate potential solutions to the problem, indicate potential challenges that could surface, and incorporate social work ethical values and principles that will guide your approach to addressing this problem).
• Prompt 2.  Describe a challenge that you faced and the steps you took to address, resolve, and/or overcome it (create a clear picture of the challenge including nature and origin of the challenge, discuss the role you played in the challenge including the actual, implied, and/or potential impact on you and others, explain the steps you took to address, resolve, and/or overcome the challenge, and address the impact the steps taken to address, resolve, and/or overcome challenge had on the way you address professional challenges).
• Prompt 3.  Describe your goals in the social work profession (indicate the academic, professional and life experiences that prepared you for this program. Indicate your preparedness as it pertains to working with socially and economically disadvantaged populations and specify the resources and supports available to you to successfully complete the MSW degree program and manage challenges that may include the academic rigor of the program as well as the stress that is common to working with intense life experiences of people and communities served by social workers).

More information about the admission process is included in the MSW handbook

• Individuals who can speak to your scholarly or creative achievement and promise or probability of success are the individuals you should list as your professional references. These individuals might be college professors, employers, colleagues, or supervisors. When completing the online application, you will enter the names and email addresses of the three people you have chosen to write letters of recommendation. A link to a questionnaire will be sent to those individuals by email.
• If you prefer, letters of recommendation can also be uploaded with your other application documents or emailed directly to the School of Public Affairs at spa@uccs.edu.

• Applicants with a Baccalaureate social work degree earned within the last 10 years from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher are encouraged to apply for the advanced standing program.

• The prerequisites for admission to the advanced standing UCCS MSW program include a Baccalaureate social work degree from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education earned within 10 years of MSW program Admission and an undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher.  The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required for admission to the advanced standing MSW program.

• Those applying to the MSW program more than 10 years since earning the baccalaureate social work degree are required to complete the 60-credit program as a full-time or extended study student.  The reason for this is that the knowledge has improved and the CSWE accreditation standards have changed at least twice since the degree was earned.  As such, we believe completing the generalist practice curriculum will not cause these students to repeat what was achieved in their baccalaureate social work program(s).

• Students pursuing the full-time MSW course sequence enroll in fifteen (five classes) credit hours each fall and spring semester.  Students pursuing the extended MSW course sequence enroll in six (two classes) to nine (three classes) credit hours each fall, spring and summer semester. Students pursuing the Advanced Standing MSW course sequence enroll in six (two classes) in the summer then between nine (three classes) and fifteen (five classes) credit hours each fall and spring or fall, spring and summer semester.

• At UCCS, graduate students are considered to be full-time when taking five or more credit hours during fall or spring semesters or three or more credit hours during summer semester.

• Graduate students are eligible to receive federal Perkins loans, federal Stafford loans, or the Colorado Graduate Grant based on financial need. Students interested in seeking federal financial aid must first be admitted into the graduate program and must also file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the end of February each year. The primary source of information about need based student financial assistance as well as scholarships and other non-need based aid is the UCCS Office of Financial Aid, Student Employment and Scholarships.

• Tuition is based on residency and the number of credits taken.

• The table does not include general fees and course program fees. Use the bill estimator located on the Bursar's Website to get a more detailed estimate of your anticipated investment in your degree.

The UCCS MSW Program has achieved Candidacy for Accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation.

Candidacy for a master’s social work program by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation indicates that it has made progress toward meeting criteria for the assessment of program quality evaluated through a peer review process.  A program that has attained Candidacy has demonstrated a commitment to meeting the compliance standards set by the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, but has not yet demonstrated full compliance. 

Students who enter programs that attain Candidacy in or before the academic year in which they begin their program of study will be retroactively recognized as having graduated from a CSWE-accredited program once the program attains Initial Accreditation.  Candidacy is typically a three-year process and attaining Candidacy does not guarantee that a program will eventually attain Initial Accreditation.  Candidacy applies to all program sites and program delivery methods of an accredited program.  Accreditation provides reasonable assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program.

For more information about social work accreditation, you may contact Accreditation.

No, neither the UCCS BSW nor the MSW program grant social work course credit for life experience or previous work experience.

• The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the national association representing social work education in the United States, describes field education as the “signature pedagogy” of social work education. Field education (e.g., internship) is the process by which students are placed in community agencies to complete hands on-learning under the supervision of an experienced social worker.

• First year/Generalist-level MSW students must complete a minimum of 400 hours of field work: 200 hours in the Fall Semester and 200 hours in the Spring Semester.
• Second year/Specialized-level MSW students must complete a minimum of 500 hours of field work: 250 hours in the Fall Semester and 250 hours in the Spring Semester.

• Students complete field education hours while registered for Field Seminar courses. Because of this, students must complete the minimum hour requirement during the semester for which they are taking the course. Extended Study students must also complete 400 hours in field during the year in which they are registered for the Generalist-level Field Seminars, and 500 in field during the year in which they are registered for the Specialized-level Field Seminars.

• MSW students will be matched with field placement sites based on their academic and professional interests and goals, while keeping in mind the availability of appropriate field instructors within the community.
• First year/Generalist level MSW students will typically begin the field advising process in March or April of the year in which they will begin coursework. (Students admitted into the MSW program after the priority deadline will begin the field advising process upon their admittance/acceptance into the program.) First year/Generalist level MSW students will be matched with only one agency at a time. Upon receiving match information, the student will schedule an interview with their perspective field instructor. Following the interview, if both parties agree to the match, this will be the student’s assignment for the coming academic year.
• Second year/Specialized level MSW students will typically begin the field advising process early in the Spring Semester of their first/Generalized level year. Second year/Specialized level MSW students will have the opportunity to be matched with more than one agency. Upon receiving match information, the student will schedule an interview with their perspective field instructor(s). Following the interview, Second year/Specialized level MSW students will provide information to the Field Office of placement preferences. When both parties preferences align, this will be the student’s assignment for the coming academic year.

• Maybe. While the goal of field education is to expose MSW students to new experiences and learning, and broaden their practice base for their future career, we understand the unique challenges students face when working full-time while completing their MSW. Students who are interested in applying to complete their field education hours at their place of employment should contact the Field Office to complete an application. Employment-based field placements will be approved on a case by case basis.

• The Field Office is always eager to speak with social service agencies in our community, and to discuss ways that they can support our MSW students. Please direct your agency contact to reach out to the Field Office (swfield@uccs.edu) or to complete the online  Field Instructor Application.