SOCIAL WORK DEGREE
at Meredith College

As a social work major at Meredith College, you will learn to empower all people by furthering social change, development, and cohesion. You’ll learn to enhance their capacity to address their needs and promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and other social institutions.

Our Bachelor of Social Work

Meredith’s Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited program gives you opportunities to participate in hands-on experiences that will prepare you to enter professional social work practice and Master of Social Work (MSW) programs at the advanced standing level. Through the field practicum, you will receive guidance from faculty mentors and active professionals so that you’re ready to lead a career of positive impact and change.

Because of social work’s interdisciplinary nature, you’ll gain a foundation of knowledge in liberal arts that will support excellence in scholarship and affirm principles of diversity, global citizenship, human rights, and social and economic justice.

To earn your Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) you must declare social work as your major and be formally admitted into the program.

Why Get Your Social Work Degree From Meredith?

Meredith’s social work program has been accredited by the CSWE since 1975 and offers a professional degree (BSW), which prepares graduates for entry into social work practice.
The field practicum allows students to participate in hands-on experiences through professional roles to learn skills, render services, and participate in the provision and development of social work services.
- A minimum of 430 hours of beginning-level generalist social work practice experience under the supervision of a professional social worker is required during the last semester before graduation.
- During the spring semester of field instruction, students enroll in and attend a weekly field seminar led by the faculty member who serves as the student’s faculty field liaison with the agency where they are doing their fieldwork.
- Field students in the social work program receive supervision by practitioners who hold a professional degree in social work from a Council on Social Work Education-accredited program.
Once students declare social work as their major, they must be formally admitted into the social work program. A student can apply for admission with registration in or the completion of a minimum of 6 hours in social work courses.
Many Meredith graduates earn an advanced-standing Master of Social Work degree, meaning they complete their MSW in one year. This is possible because graduates enter the program with a BSW, allowing them to be exempt from foundation MSW courses.
Various scholarship opportunities are available for BSW graduates who wish to pursue an MSW degree.
Examples of student success include Rachel Hefner, ’21, who spent her time at Meredith volunteering to improve the lives of those within her local community. She now works as a community organizer at Virginia Organizing, a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues affecting their quality of life.

Careers in Social Work

Social Work is highly marketable, with various flexible career and graduate school options. Graduates from Meredith are engaged in a range of professional and academic pursuits, including

Therapist
Case Manager
Program & Community
Development
Research & Education
Crisis Intervention

Policy Development
Hospice Care
Child Welfare
Developmental Disabilities
Humanitarian Service

On average, social work majors make $50,390 annually in the U.S.

Statement of Inclusion

The Meredith College Department of Psychology and Social Work is committed to building a campus environment where all are welcomed and included. We are committed to recognizing and understanding diversity through all courses, departmental activities, and interactions with one another. Every individual has something unique to offer and this diversity enriches our campus conversations, relationships, classrooms, and programs. We value the multiple dimensions of race; ethnicity; gender identity; sexual orientation; socioeconomic status; national origin; immigration status; native language; ability; age; religious, spiritual, and philosophical traditions; political affiliation; and self-expression. We also appreciate that identity is intersectional and that diversity extends beyond this incomplete list of categories. We commit to educating ourselves and working collectively as a department to the ongoing process of seeking justice and equity. We will not accept acts of intolerance, discrimination, or exclusion. Instead, we will cultivate humility, respect, and dialogue to create a space for all members of our community to learn and grow. (7/15/2020)