School of Social Work’s M.S.W. Program Distance Education ranked among the best

February 12, 2014 by Geoff LoCicero

Recently, Create a Career, an online resource for important information for specific occupations, created a list of the 20 best online M.S.W. programs. VCU School of Social Work’s Distance Education option, an online and on-campus hybrid master’s program, was listed as the fourth best online M.S.W. program.

Located in Richmond, VA, Virginia Commonwealth University features a Master of Social Work degree students can obtain through VCU’s Distance Education program. The four-year, part-time program has a concentration in clinical social work practice.

U.S. News & World Report ranks VCU’s School of Social Work’s graduate programs highly among the nation’s top social work programs.

Online MSW Program Snapshot:

Structured four-year, part-time distance education program for clinical concentration
Hybrid model: Students can complete most coursework online but the program includes two mandatory in-person class days per semester offered on Saturdays and are required to attend an in-person program orientation prior to year one
More than 450 field internships in Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

The MSW Distance Education (DE) program is a hybrid model: Students have access to most of the coursework online but the program includes some mandatory in-person classes. All DE students must complete field internships in assigned community agencies in both the foundation and concentration years of the program. Field internships are offered only in Virginia or the metropolitan area of Washington D.C., including close-in counties in Maryland.

Students must attend two mandatory in-person classes per semester at VCU’s School of Social Work in Richmond. Those classes take place on Saturdays, usually at Week 8 and 15 in the semester. Students are required to take an in-person program orientation prior to year one.

The online program features the same curriculum as the campus-based MSW program and the part-time model permits students to complete the beginning (foundation) year of the program in two years including summers and the second (concentration) year in two years.