BSW Program

Coursework

Social work major cohorts will begin their BSW coursework in either the spring or fall semesters. The major coursework will take 4 semesters to complete, however there are no social work major courses offered during summer semesters. Summer semesters are reserved for students to complete any missing general education requirements, electives, prerequisites, or study abroad opportunities. For example, Intro to Social Work (SOW3203) is offered in fall, spring, and summer semesters.

The BSW Program is a total of 41 credit hours and is a full time, lock-step structured program. This means that students are expected to take the coursework as outlined in the table below and progress through each semester toward graduation without any alterations. Students who begin the BSW first semester courses in spring are expected to be in the second semester courses in fall and the final semester courses in the following spring. Students who begin the BSW Program first semester courses in fall are expected to be in the second semester courses in spring and in the final semester courses in the following fall. In the final semester, most students are in their field placements Monday through Thursday for 32 hours per week with class on Fridays.

Due to the full-time nature of our program, it is not recommended that students work full time while completing coursework. Currently, there is no option to complete the BSW program coursework in a part-time format. In rare and extenuating circumstances, students may apply for a split field placement in their final semester. A split field placement requires half of the field placement hours to be completed in the final scheduled semester, and the remaining half to be completed in the following semester, extending the program to 5 semesters.

The BSW Program has been certified as a Global Pathway program. Global Pathway programs have significant global content and align with the goals of USF’s Quality Enhancement Plan, the Global Citizens Project. Students in Global Pathway programs are well positioned to earn the Global Citizen Award and become eligible to apply for a education abroad scholarship offered by the Global Citizens Project.  Relatedly, education abroad opportunities are available through the School of Social Work and have included travel to Spain and Peru. Please navigate to the USF Global Pathway Program section on the left-hand side to find more information.

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The BSW Program offers a Child Welfare Certification Pathway for those students interested in a career in child welfare and want to pursue becoming a Certified Child Welfare Case Manager. Students pursuing this pathway will complete a paid field placement at a community-based care organization with one of our partnering agencies in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota Manatee, or Pasco Counties and will also complete the Child Maltreatment course in their final semester of the program. Before graduating, students will take the Case Management Certification exam through the Florida Certification Board and upon passing will be offered a full-time case management job at one of the participating case management organizations. Please contact Chris Groeber, MSW for more information: cgroeber@usf.edu.

The School of Social Work offers two education abroad opportunities:

  • The Spain program focuses on the socio-cultural context of people's health in two diverse settings - Alicante and Granada. In both settings, students will experience the vibrant cities, their culture, architecture, history, and interact with diverse groups of people. During the program, students will visit a variety of community/social service agencies based on students' interests, meet with a variety of professionals, participate in service-learning activities, and have exchanges with professors and students at the University of Alicante School of Social Work which is ranked #1 in Spain.

  • The Peru program focuses on global health and mental health practices. It provides students hands on, experiential learning opportunities within a community-based health care organization in Peru, with a specific focus on addressing mental health morbidity through a social justice lens. Accordingly, this course examines the epidemiology, risk factors and consequences, individual- and population-level approaches to treatment and prevention, and delivery of mental health services in Lima, Peru.