University of Central Florida Master of Social Work Online MSW
Program Options: Part-Time, Advanced Standing
Tuition: $6,916
Acceptance Rate: 49%
GRE Required: No
1-Year/Accelerated Option: Yes
Campus Visits Required: No
Field Hours: 1,000
CSWE Accredited: Yes (1974)
Application Deadline: May 1
See our ranking of the Top 10 Affordable Master of Social Work Online (MSW) Degrees.
Overview
The University of Central Florida is the main public university responsible for educating students in the central portion of the state. Often called UCF or Central Florida, the university has an enrollment of more than 66,000 students, which makes it one of the largest colleges in Florida. Washington Monthly, U.S. News & World Report and Forbes all rank UCF as one of the top schools in the country. Founded in 1936 as a technical university, it offered many programs that students completed before working for major corporations and government agencies like NASA. It now offers an online MSW with one track available for traditional students with no social work experience and a second track designed for students with a social work degree.
Strengths
One of the primary strengths of this program is that it offers students the chance to gain both general and clinical experience. As an online program, it gives students the chance to study different social work topics and learn more about this field without ever visiting Orlando. Students can use the knowledge they gain in the program and apply it to their own cities and states. Though much of the work required in this program takes place online, students will also do some practical work outside of the school. UCF assigns students an adviser who will help them find locations to do their fieldwork.
Concentrations
Some MSW programs ask students to choose concentrations in specialized fields like working with children or working with aged populations, but UCF offers just one program with a clinical specialization. The clinical specialization allows students to take classes on working with clients in the field. This program takes a generalist approach to the social work practice. It allows students to learn more about working with different types of groups and populations. The work they do in the field will complement their classes and allow them to use the approaches and techniques they learned in those classes in the field.
Program Requirements
This online MSW program consists of 47 credits of classes and 14 credits of fieldwork. Students take seven required core courses that are worth a total of 21 credit hours. They then take 18 credit hours of work from within the clinical specialization. The remaining nine credit hours of work required to graduate will come from the electives that students take. Students can select three or more classes relating to other social work disciplines. The program also features two fieldwork experiences that students take in combination with a seminar. They earn 14 credits from their fieldwork.
Admissions Requirements
UCF no longer accepts traditional paper applications because it offers an online application. The university allows students to start classes in the fall, spring or summer. It has a deadline of May 1 for fall applications, October 1 for spring applications and March 1 for summer applications. The university must receive a completed application packet by this deadline as well as any other required information or documents.
Each student applying to the online MSW program must submit a transcript from each university or college attended, and each transcript must come sealed from that school and show that the student earned a grade of B- or higher in certain classes, including social science, math and humanities classes. The university also asks for a professional resume and three letters of recommendation. Those letters must come from an employer or supervisor, a teacher and a third individual with knowledge of the student’s educational work or professional experience. Applicants will also provide UCF with a personal statement of no more than six pages and an educational writing sample of no more than 10 pages.
Faculty
In the same way that the university only accepts the best students, it also only hires the best teachers for this program. Many of the professors teaching online classes have years of professional experience in the private and public sectors. They instill in their students a deep understanding of social work topics and ensure that those students know how to use the skills they learn once they work in the field.
Online Courses
Students take courses in this MSW program that teach them how to work with individuals, groups, and families. The 21-credit core that students take includes classes such as Foundations of Behavioral Health Policy and Social Work Practice, Social Work Research, Diverse Client Populations and Social Welfare Policies and Services. The core also includes a social work practicum. Students will also take 18 credits of clinical courses, including Clinical Evaluation in Social Work Practice, Theories for Evidence-Based Clinical Practice in Social Work, Clinical Practice with Groups, Clinical Practice with Groups and Clinical Practice with Individuals.
Internships
Though all social work students must do internships for UCF credit, traditional students must do more fieldwork than advanced standing students do. The generalist internship requires that students work between eight and 10 hours each week. They must do a total of 400 hours of fieldwork to complete a generalist internship.
Both advanced standing and traditional students will do a clinical internship the requires they do 600 hours over the course of their work. This equates out to around 14 hours of work each week. The UCF School of Social Work may allow students to do internships in the same places where they currently work, but those students will need to take on new responsibilities or do new tasks to gain credit. Students must do at least 50% of their work during normal business hours between 8 am and 5 pm.
Contact
12085 Pegasus Dr.
Orlando, FL 32816
(407) 823-0171
Program Website
Social workers help make the world a better place. While some employers hire those with a Bachelor of Social Work or a similar degree and some professional experience, many jobs are only open to applicants with an MSW degree. The University of Central Florida gives students the chance to enroll in an online MSW program that lets them earn their degrees from anywhere in the world.