
A degree in social work will provide you with the fundamental knowledge and practical skills to make a positive impact on patients’ lives. Your training will extend from treating mental and emotional disorders to addiction recovery and beyond.
A degree in social work will provide you with the fundamental knowledge and practical skills to make a positive impact on patients’ lives. Your training will extend from treating mental and emotional disorders to addiction recovery and beyond.
Emergency rooms, rehabilitation facilities and youth centers all rely on social workers to treat veterans with PTSD, neglected children, people with chronic illnesses and many others. Our traditional MSW program prepares you for licensure and gives you the tools you’ll need to provide patients with counseling, crisis intervention and access to social welfare and community resources.
You’ll act as a crucial link between patients and their caregivers, ensuring that they are receiving proper attention. Our curriculum emphasizes interprofessional education to familiarize you with a team-based health care approach while also giving you the freedom to tailor your degree to your specialty.
During your field education experiences, you complete 1,000 hours of professional development in environments such as substance abuse treatment centers, mental health clinics, schools and communities for elder care. Whether your career goals include private clinical practice or working in a community-based setting, you’ll graduate not only as a credit to your profession, but also as a true leader in the field of social work.
Social workers are in high demand, with over an 13% increase in employment from 2019-2029. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020)
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 90,700 new social work jobs will be created over the next decade.(April, 2020)
A 2017 National Association of Social Workers Workforce Study found MSW salaries were $13,000 higher than for those who held a BSW degree.
The CT Health Horizon’s grant will allow Quinnipiac to provide $10,000 per student per year in tuition assistance for qualifying master of social work and advanced standing master of social work candidates with the goal of increasing the number and diversity of students in these programs.
July 3, 2023
Amanda Panniello, ‘19
Amanda Panniello, MSW ‘19, started volunteering in the Lions Low Vision Center in her first year out of a passion for working with the aging population.
“If there is anything I can do for this population, I’ll do it,” Panniello said.
An interprofessional clinic, Lions provides occupational therapy and social work services to older individuals struggling with vision loss. Working alongside faculty and certified social workers, Panniello helps clients address the emotional issues associated with vision loss, such as social isolation, depression and anxiety.
“Each person’s needs are different, and we get to know them as best we can,” she said.
By her second year, Panniello was conducting social work assessments on her own and began co-facilitating a monthly low vision support group with Professor Laura Mutrie.
“Amanda is eager to learn and grow as a professional social worker,” said Mutrie. “Her passion and energy for this work are truly inspirational to me as a mentor and teacher.“
Panniello’s passion for her work even led to the opportunity to assist with research on the effects of social isolation in older adults and a subsequent trip to one of the nation's foremost gerontological conferences.
“I genuinely love this, and I feel thankful for all of it,“ Panniello said.
Assistant Professor of Social Work Amber Kelly was instrumental in bringing 3 formerly incarcerated women to campus to share their health care experiences in state and federal prisons.
Beatrice Codianni and Carol Soto, who were incarcerated at the same time as Piper Kerman, author of “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison,” inspired characters in the book and hit TV show. The women discussed their experiences at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, and offered insight about how their access to, and experiences in, the health care system impacted them during their time inside.
They were joined by Jaclyn Lucibello, who was incarcerated for three years and ultimately gave birth in the York Correctional Institution in Niantic, Connecticut, the state’s only female correctional facility.
The initiative was co-sponsored by Quinnipiac University’s College of Arts and Sciences, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, School of Medicine and School of Nursing, along with other university departments and centers.
Today, Amber Kelly continues to work closely with Beatrice and other formerly incarcerated women through the New Haven Women’s Resettlement Working Group, as well as with incarcerated individuals across Connecticut through Quinnipiac University’s Prison Project.
If you have completed your bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW), our MSW Advanced Standing Program could be for you. To qualify, students must have a BSW degree conferred from a CSWE-accredited program prior to the beginning of the advanced standing MSW program in early July.
The summer session is an intensive 5 week session where students will complete 6 credits. After successful completion of the summer session, students will join the specialized curriculum where they will complete 30 credits of coursework over two semesters, including 700 hours of field education (total of 36 credits). Students may complete this curriculum in one academic year if they wish to study full time, or those wishing to study part time will be able to complete the specialized curriculum in 2 years.
Student graduates from the MSW Advanced Standing Program are eligible to sit for the LMSW license exam and are prepared for jobs in a full range of clinical social work positions including jobs in aging services, health/mental/substance abuse, child and family welfare and justice, or school social work. Student graduates also meet the academic requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW).
All Council on Social Work Education programs measure and report student learning outcomes. Students are assessed on their mastery of the competencies that comprise the accreditation standards of the Council on Social Work Education. These competencies are dimensions of social work practice that all social workers are expected to master during their professional training. A measurement benchmark is set by the social work programs for each competency. An assessment score at or above that benchmark is considered by the program to represent mastery of that particular competency.
View the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes: Form AS 4(M) (PDF)
The MSW meets the academic requirements for licensure as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). The MSW program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Initial accreditation was granted in March 2016.
Our graduate admissions representatives are here to answer any questions you may have and help you navigate the application process.