The MSW Program is currently offered at two campuses: one in Springfield and one in Joplin.  The Springfield site is located in Pummill Hall at the main Missouri State University (MSU) campus and is where the main department office of the School of Social Work resides.  The Joplin site and located in Webster Hall on the Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) campus.  While students at the Joplin site attend classes on the MSSU campus, they are MSU students only.  Since it is considered a satellite program, it is offered via Missouri State University’s extended campus program. As such, in-state tuition is available to students at the Joplin campus regardless of whether they live in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas or Oklahoma.

The MSW coursework and degree requirements are the same for both campuses.  Although students select their primary campus, students may take classes at either campus when accepted into the program, with notification to the program coordinators.  Social work faculty travel or teach between both campuses on regular intervals such that students at both sites have access to the same set of faculty teaching expertise.

Two degree tracks are offered in the MSW program: 1) the Regular Standing program; 2) Advanced Standing program.  Descriptions of each are as follows:

• The Regular Standing program is for students who have a Bachelor degree in a field other than social work. This program involves a total of 62 graduate credit hours, which includes two field practicum placements in the community. Students can attend full time or part time; the full time option typically takes two years while the part time option four years.   The courses for this program begin in Fall of the year the student is accepted.  For pre-requisites for this program, please see the admissions section (or click here).
• Advanced Standing program is for students who have a Bachelor of Social Work degree from a social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). This option involves a total of 34 graduate credit hours, which includes one field practicum placement in the community during the student’s last semester. Students can attend full time or part time; the full time option typically takes one calendar year while the part time option two years. The courses begin in the Summer term of the year a student is accepted, although part-time students may begin in the Fall with advisor approval.

For Advanced Standing students, the full-time and part-time options are available at both the Springfield and Joplin campuses.  For Regular Standing students, the part-time option is available at both campuses but the regular standing full-time option is currently only available at the Springfield campus.

MSU has a strong student-faculty mentoring program and is a national leader in student advisement programs.  As such, all MSW students are assigned a faculty advisor who serves as a consultant on course scheduling and sequencing, student issues that impact with their learning and general professional mentoring and advisement.

Since the program requires a sequential movement through the course work, students apply for and are accepted into a particular degree track, status (full-time or part-time) and campus location.  Students who choose a particular option may request to change their status at certain points during the program but must request and be granted permission by the MSW Program Coordinator after consulting their advisor.

The MSW Program is fully accredited by CSWE through 2011. 

For more information about the program, please contact the program coordinator listed below for your campus of interest:

Springfield campus:  Dr. Darryl Haslam, 417-836-4259 or dhaslam@MissouriState.edu

Joplin campus:  Ms. Renee White, 417-625-3188 or reneewhite@missouristate.edu

Additional information can be found about coursework or admissions.