Master of Social Work

The Master of Social Work (MSW) program is an advanced generalist with an emphasis on working in rural and Indigenous communities. The program teaches students how to achieve a disciplined, compassionate presence to a caring, and ethical practice.

The goals of the MSW Program are to:
1. Prepare students for professional social work practice responsive to the challenges and resources present in rural areas and indigenous communities.
2. Present local, historical, and contemporary social issues within a global perspective.

The program prepares students for advanced generalist practice which emphasizes multi-system, multi-level approaches in which practitioners and clients work in collaboration to enhance the functioning and resilience within systems through building on existing strengths.

Students develop a framework for practice guided by personal and professional values and ethics. Cultural humility, compassion, partnership, empowerment, non-expert relational paradigms, critical reflection, and social action for justice are the concepts that form the foundation for learning and developing social work practice at Cal Poly Humboldt.

The MSW program requires candidates to have completed a Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education with a GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (BASW degree and 3.5 GPA for Advanced Standing program).

English Language Proficiency

ACT - 22 or above on English test section; Cambridge English Exams - CPE: C2 (200 or above); IELTS - 6.5; ILSC - Completion of Advanced 1; iTEP - 4.5; TOEFL - 80 IBT, 550 PBT, 213 CBT.

Applications for the Full-Time ON-CAMPUS MSW program beginning in Fall will be accepted from October 1 through February 1.