Traditional On-Campus Master of Social Work
Our traditional on-campus MSW is designed for the working professional and can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis. Field placements are available across the central Pennsylvania area.
Master of Social Work
The Millersville & Shippensburg MSW Program
Millersville and Shippensburg universities are jointly offering a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree program. It is designed for students who want to either further their education in social work or join the social work profession. The program was developed to support both the full-time student and the working professional. State-of-the-art technology permits students to acquire social work knowledge, skills, and values through multiple educational methods, including traditional campus classes, teleconferencing and web-based activities. Because this is a joint program, students benefit from the quality faculty and resources of both universities.
Effective May 2025, all MSW program options (online and in-person) will start in the first MSW Summer term of 2025. Students should apply April 15, 2025. For students who want to discuss starting in the fall or spring semester, please reach out to the MSW Program Coordinator.
Now Offering Two Methods of Delivery!
Program options: Regular Standing and Advanced Standing
Online Master of Social Work
Our same great MSW program, taught by the same faculty. Courses may meet synchronously or asynchronously. Field placements will be available near the student's physical location.
An MSW permits graduates to work in a variety of human service programs and agencies in an advanced clinical and/or administrative capacity. The flexibility of the social work degree provides graduates with many options as they pursue their careers in the helping fields.
PROGRAM MISSION AND GOALS
The mission of the Millersville University and Shippensburg University Collaborative MSW Program is to promote human and community well-being by providing an advanced generalist social work education that prepares students to be contemporary practitioners and advocates for individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations utilizing the person in environment perspective. We prepare students to be competent, globally responsive evidence-informed practitioners, committed to social, racial, economic, and environmental justice and human rights, which are rooted in the values of the social work profession.
The MU-SU MSW Program goals are:
- Prepare graduates for competent advanced generalist practice through the acquisition and demonstration of social work competencies and values consistent with Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) educational policy and accreditation standards and Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
- Provide graduates with the advanced generalist knowledge values and skills for social work practice across micro, mezzo and macro systems to assess, plan and facilitate change with attention to the profession's commitment to interprofessional collaboration.
- Develop graduates’ commitment to continued evidence-informed professional development and prepare graduates to practice human rights-based social work that promotes social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
Master of Social Work at Millersville
Learn about our MSW program by listening to first-hand accounts from students and faculty at Millersville University.
“I really enjoy research so learning about program evaluation has helped me to lead internal research efforts at CASA. The MSW program actually opened my eyes to macro social work and I realized how much I love it and that it's really the work I've always wanted to do but didn't know it.”
- Laura Golomb | Master of Social Work Graduate
PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
- Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior.
- Engage diversity and difference in practice.
- Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.
- Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
- Engage in policy practice.
- Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.
- Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
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Contact Information
Program Coordinator:
Dr. Laura Brierton Granruth
Office: Stayer Hall, Room 312
Phone: 717-871-7161
Email: Laura.granruth@millersville.eduDepartment Chair:
Dr. Karen Rice
Office: Stayer Hall, Room 307
Phone: 717-871-5297
Email: Karen.Rice@millersville.eduSchool Of Social Work
Stayer Hall, Room 301
P.O. Box 1002
Millersville, PA 17551Secretary: Ms. Christine Kolenda
Email: christine.kolenda@millersville.edu
Phone: 717- 871-7170 -
Accreditation
The joint MSW program was designed according to the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) accreditation guidelines. At the January 2007 meeting of the Accreditation Commission of CSWE, the MU-SU MSW program was awarded candidacy, which is the first major action in the accreditation process. In February 2008, a second year of candidacy was granted and the self-study process, which takes two years to complete, was begun. February 2010, the Master of Social Work program operated jointly by Millersville and Shippensburg Universities, earned accreditation from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) from Fall 2006 until February 2014, retroactively including students who entered the program in Fall 2006. In 2014, CSWE reaffirmed our accreditation through 2022. As of June 2022, our accreditation has been reaffirmed through February of 2030. The program achieves its goals through implementation of the core competencies and practice behaviors as outlined by the program's accrediting body, the Council on Social Work Education.