Ready to find your focus as an advanced practitioner? Review the resources below to find application guidelines, tuition and fees, financial aid opportunities, upcoming deadlines and how to get in touch with us. Then apply to join us.
#28
Ranked No. 28 in Best Graduate Schools for Social Work byU.S. News & World Report *
$10,540
$10,540 is the average financial aid award for M.S.W. students. **
M.S.W. application deadlines
All applications are for the regular standing format unless otherwise noted.
May 28, 2025: For part-time online Fall 2025 start
Aug. 14, 2025: For full-time online Spring 2026 start
Oct. 16, 2025: For part-time online Spring 2026 start
Feb. 5, 2026: For advanced standing online Summer 2026; advanced standing on-campus Summer 2026; and advanced standing online Fall 2026 starts
March 5, 2026: For part-time online Summer 2026 start
March 26, 2026: For on-campus Fall 2026; and full-time online Fall 2026 starts
May 28, 2026: For part-time online Fall 2025 start
Available on campus or online, full time or part time, and with options for advanced standing and dual degrees or certifications, the M.S.W. Program provides intensive, specialized coursework, research and field experience so our students can position themselves to make immediate impacts in the lives and communities they touch.
Around two dozen scholarships are available for current M.S.W. students through a competitive application process.
Yearlong research assistantship positions provide stipend and tuition assistance to incoming full-time M.S.W. students. These highly competitive positions include a rewarding and educational service component. Previous assistantships have provided students the opportunity to engage in faculty-led research and develop faculty mentoring relationships.
I chose the School of Social Work because of its history as an exemplary program, and I think I even cried when I got my acceptance letter because I was so overjoyed. My advisor, course instructors, field instructor and field liaison were exceptionally supportive and critically instrumental in my development during my generalist year.”
Jennifer Leftwich (she/her), M.S.W. graduate and scholarship recipient
Have questions?
Prospective students interested in an online M.S.W. option can contact onlinemsw@vcu.edu. For on-campus M.S.W. questions, please reach out to sswinfo@vcu.edu.
***For VCU School of Social Work 2021 LCSW exam first-time test takers; by comparison, the average of all North American 2021 first-time test takers was 75.8%.
Disclaimer: The School of Social Work offers two concentrations in social work practice, (a) clinical and (b) administration, planning, and policy practice. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), "Clinical social work is a specialty practice area of social work which focuses on the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illness, emotional, and other behavioral disturbances. Individual, group, and family therapy are common treatment modalities. Social workers who provide these services are required to be licensed or certified at the clinical level in their state of practice." The Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in administration planning, and policy practice is a macro practice degree program that was not developed with the intention to meet the educational requirements for licensure as a clinical social worker in Virginia or any other U.S. state or territory. If an applicant wants to engage in clinical social work practice and receive a clinical license, they should apply to the MSW program's clinical concentration.
Our specializations: Clinical practice (licensure track) and macro practice (non-licensure track)
The School of Social Work offers two concentrations in social work practice, (a) clinical and (b) macro. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), "Clinical social work is a specialty practice area of social work which focuses on the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illness, emotional, and other behavioral disturbances. Individual, group, and family therapy are common treatment modalities. Social workers who provide these services are required to be licensed or certified at the clinical level in their state of practice." The Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in macro practice was not developed with the intention to meet the educational requirements for licensure as a clinical social worker in Virginia or any other U.S. state or territory. If an applicant wants to engage in clinical social work practice and receive a clinical license, they should apply to the M.S.W. Program's clinical concentration.
