California State University, Northridge Online Master of Social Work
Program Options: Full-time online
Tuition: $6,587/year
Acceptance Rate: 46%
GRE Required: No
1-year/Accelerated Option: No
Campus Visits Required: No
Field Hours: 16 hours/week
CSWE Accredited: Yes (2008)
Application Deadline: October 1
Overview
California State University, Northride is a branch of CSU that has a campus in Northride, which is a suburb of Los Angeles. Founded as San Fernando Valley College in 1958, it previously served as a satellite campus for a local state college before becoming a separate school. U.S. News & World Report included CSUN on a list of the best colleges in the west, but Forbes ranked the university as one of the country’s best colleges. Washington Monthly also highlighted its graduate school. The university offers a two-year Master of Social Work program online and a three-year program, which is a part-time program that requires students take classes on the College of the Canyons campus.
Strengths
More than 90 percent of the graduates of this program reported getting a promotion or receiving a better paying job after finishing their MSW work. Multiple websites rank this program as one of the best options for online students, and it also ranks as one of the most affordable MSW programs too. As a cohort MSW program, CSUN requires that students work with the same groups in their first classes and in their later classes. All students must agree to log in each week for a live discussion with their peers and their professors. Professors will announce the date and time of each session at least one month in advance. Students can also log in later and watch a recording of those live sessions.
Concentrations
CSUN does not offer any concentrations for those enrolled in its MSW online program.
Program Requirements
This MSW program focuses closely on the issues affecting those living in and around Los Angeles, but students can apply the knowledge that they learn and the skills they develop to work in other settings across the country. Though the program does not have any concentrations, it does offer courses that allow students to learn more about specific areas of social work. Students will need to complete 60 credits of work, which includes the credits earned in their field placements. The university requires that students complete the minimum number of field placement hours, file a form called the project planning form and maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. Students must also complete a capstone based on an issue affecting urban families or communities. The work they do must meet APA guidelines and be suitable for publishing. CSUN online students will also need to create a poster relating to their projects that they present in front of others.
Admission Requirements
CSUN will only accept students into its online MSW program if they currently have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or will have a degree in hand by the time that they begin their graduate classes. Those students must also have a GPA of at least 2.5 in all their undergrad classes or in the last 60 credits of classes that they took. The university requires that applicants be in good standing at their schools at the time that they apply too. Though CSUN does not require that students take the GRE, it does ask that they fill out the online application and pay a $55 application fee. Students will also need to submit their official transcripts and three letters of recommendation. Each letter must come in a sealed envelope that has the signature of the person who wrote that letter across the flap.
Those with a lower GPA may receive a conditional acceptance letter. Those students will need to take the GRE and score at least a three on the analytical writing portion. Conditional applicants will also need to take a writing test offered by the university and score at least an eight on that exam. These students may need to maintain a higher GPA once accepted and/or work closely with an adviser.
Related resource: Top 10 Affordable Master of Social Work Online (MSW) Degrees
Faculty
CSUN has a student to teacher ratio of 27 students to every student, but this ratio is even lower at the graduate level. More than 10% of the classes that it offers have just 10 or fewer students in them. There are approximately 18 professors working in the Master of Social Work program, and many of these professors teach both online and on the CSUN campus. All of those instructors have either an LCSW or MSW degree, and many of these teachers also have their doctorate degrees. Some of the more popular teachers in this program have more than two decades of professional social work experience.
Online Courses
Human Behavior and Social Environment is one of the first classes that online students will take. They must also take courses such as Psychosocial Assessment and Diagnostic Formulation, Generalist Social Work Theory and Practice, Social Work Practice in Multicultural Contexts, Social Welfare Policy and Service and Social Work Research Methods. Other specialized courses that students take include Advanced Social Work Practice with Urban Families, Urban Social Policy and Advocacy and Family Crisis, Trauma and Grief. There is also a course on selected topics available.
Internships
Field practicum work, also called field education, is an important part of this MSW program. Those attending traditional classes will work for facilities located an hour or less away from the campus. The university makes every attempt to find its online students field placements within an hour of their own homes too. Students must agree to work for one of these agencies every year from September to May, and those students will receive a different placement before beginning their second years. Some of these placements provide students with a stipend or an hourly wage. Students can work for government agencies like Child and Family Services, in domestic abuse and other nonprofit shelters or for private organizations.
Contact
Online MSW
(818) 677-3332
California offers a number of opportunities for students, including those who live in the state and those living in other states. California State University, Northridge offers an accredited Online MSW program that can help students in any state.