Social Work

Students seeking admission to the M.S.W. program must demonstrate that they:

• Hold a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university.

• Have completed a broad liberal arts background with a minimum of 24 credit hours including at least one course in sociology, psychology, English, political science or history, statistics, and human biology. A course in introductory statistics is required. These undergraduate requirements may be taken at any accredited college or university, including community colleges. All prerequisites for admission must be completed prior to admission, except statistics and human biology, which must be completed by the end of the first semester in the program. All offers of admission are conditional upon the successful completion of the undergraduate coursework.

• Have earned a minimum of a 2.5 grade point average on the last 120 graded credits that appear on their bachelor\xc2\x92s degree transcript, as well as a 3.0 on all social work courses.

• Meet the requirements for advanced standing if the applicant seeks admission to the program. Applicants for advanced standing must have graduated from an undergraduate social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education within the last five years.

• Have submitted transcripts of any completed graduate courses.

• Submit three letters of recommendation. The three professional letters of recommendation are usually from persons such as professors, employers, supervisors, professional colleagues and community associates. Only one reference may be from a Seton Hall University Social Work program faculty member. Applicants who have been employed in a social service agency should request a recommendation from a recent employer or supervisor. Student applicants should provide a recommendation from a faculty advisor or instructor.

Provisional Admission

Provisional admission may be granted to applicants to the M.S.W. program who have a GPA below 2.5 on the last 120 graded credits that appear on their bachelor\xc2\x92s degree transcript and have an otherwise strong application. Provisionally admitted applicants must complete one semester of graduate courses (at least two courses) with a GPA of 3.0.

Transfer Applicants

Under certain circumstances, students may receive a maximum of 29 semester hours for work completed not more than five years prior to first registration from a CSWE-accredited graduate school of social work and for which a grade of at least a B was received. No course, including any transfer course, may be counted toward a degree if it was completed more than seven full calendar years prior to the date of graduation.

Students must complete a minimum of 30 credits in the Seton Hall University Social Work program, to be eligible for the M.S.W. Students currently or previously enrolled in another accredited master\xc2\x92s level social work degree program who are seeking admission as a transfer students are required to submit the following additional materials:

• A brief written statement describing the reasons why they are requesting a transfer.

• A copy of practicum/field work evaluation(s), if applicable.

• One of the three recommendations must be from a faculty member or field supervisor affiliated with the program.

• Any student registered in the program who wants to take a course at another university and transfer credit toward the Seton Hall University Social Work M.S.W. (i.e., a summer course) must receive approval from the Social Work Program Director.

Advanced Standing

Applicants for advanced standing must submit the following material in addition to the usual application requirements:

• Transcripts documenting eligibility for advanced standing.

• Recommendation for advanced standing from the Social Work Department chair/director of the school in which they completed their Bachelor of Social Work.

• A detailed evaluation of their field instruction experience and performance by the agency supervisor or an evaluation of their employment performance. They may submit evaluations of field performance conducted at the end of each undergraduate semester.