MOUNT VERNON – Mount Vernon Nazarene University is proud to announce the launch of its Master of Social Work degree program, beginning in spring 2025.
The program offers specializations in behavioral health and school social work. The MSW is designed to prepare students to become advanced social workers with expertise from a Christian perspective.
“What makes the program so special is our faith-based approach and our faculty’s commitment to the profession,” said program director Dr. Rachel Young. “School social work and mental health were chosen after we looked at the needs of our community and wanted to respond to them.”
“There is a great need for mental health social workers throughout the United States, and in Ohio there is a need for school social workers. This makes us unique because there is a lack of programs that offer the school social work specialization.”
The MSW degree program consists of 62 standard credit hours and is designed to be completed entirely online. MVNU also offers a 31-credit-hour “ASAP Starts here” option.
To be eligible for the ASAP program, students must have earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited institution within the past five years and have achieved at least a 3.0 grade point average with satisfactory subject evaluations.
“ASAP is advanced status,” Young said. “ASAP students can complete the program in one calendar year. Students who are not eligible for ASAP can complete it in two years. Students who can qualify save time and money on their degree.”
The online program requires internship and seminar hours, but is designed to be flexible and adapt to the student’s location and schedule.
“The internship requires 20 hours per week in a social work setting,” Young said. “Students choose their concentration, either behavioral health or school social work. This determines where their internship takes place.”
“For example, behavioral health students might complete their fieldwork in a psychiatric hospital or mental health clinic. School social work students complete their field hours in a school setting. Students meet virtually with the MSW Director of Field Training to finalize these details.”
After completing their studies, graduates with the appropriate qualifications have numerous options open to them.
The Behavioral Health degree program prepares students to work as medical social workers, clinical social worker/therapists, social work directors, social work administrators, or researcher/professors.
The specialization in school social work allows graduates to work in a school setting and conduct assessments of children who need support to succeed.
For more information or to apply, visit mvnu.edu/master-social-work.
