MSW Overview
Earn your Master of Social Work degree from one of the nation’s top-ranked, distinguished programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The Florida State University College of Social Work prepares students to become skilled social work professionals in a student-centered and collaborative learning environment with a focus on real-world solutions, including hands-on learning in an internship. Learn more about our program offerings at the Tallahassee and Panama City campuses and the Online MSW program.
Admissions Questions?
Contact Dana DeBoer at ddeboer2@admin.fsu.edu or (850) 644-9591 or for our online MSW, please email admissions@onlineadvising.fsu.edu or call (888) 368-0834.
Advanced Standing Program Waiver - For Students Applying Summer 2026 and Forward
The waiver request form is designed to help applicants who may have significant work experience but whose BSW falls outside our 7-year limit. You must get prior approval to apply to the Advanced Standing Program if you have graduated in 2019 or earlier. Before you apply for the Advanced Standing Program, please submit a statement (see instructions below). If approved, you can apply to our Advanced Standing Program. If you do not have the appropriate experience to be in the Advanced Standing Program, you can apply to our Traditional Program. Please note that if you apply before you receive an approval, we will route your application to the Traditional Program. There is no appeal process as once the decision is made, it is final.
Students who graduated from a BSW program in 2019 or earlier can complete a waiver statement, which will allow the applicant to provide justification to be admitted to the Advanced Standing program after the required time frame. To be considered for the Advanced Standing Program with a waiver statement, a student must have social work employment experience in the last seven years.
Advanced Standing (AS) Waiver Process
Submit a statement (approximately 2-4 paragraphs) along with your resume, making sure to include your BSW graduation date, work experience in the field of social work to date, and then, why the College of Social Work should consider your eligibility for the Advanced Standing Program.
*Please submit your waiver form with uploaded documents via the link below before you begin your application.
Submit Advanced Standing Waiver
Please remember that an approved waiver does not guarantee admission to the MSW program. It will just allow you to apply to the Advanced Standing program.
Questions?
Dana DeBoer, MSW Admissions Coordinator: ddeboer2@fsu.edu
Advanced Standing MSW Program
Admission Requirements
- A Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from an accredited college or university.
- A GPA of at least 3.0 in upper-division courses at the undergraduate level.
- Have a liberal arts foundation, demonstrated by a liberal arts degree or 36 hours of course work in the following curriculum areas:
- Area I: Mathematics (6 hours)
- Area II: English (6 hours)
- Area III: History/ Social Sciences (6-12 hours)
- Area IV: Humanities/ Fine Arts (5-11 hours)
- Area V: Natural Science (7 hours)
- Apply online and pay $30 application fee online.
- Apply to the College of Social Work
- Statement of Purpose
- References (3)
- Resume
- Official transcripts from each college or University attended. Request transcripts to be sent to:
Florida State University
Office of Graduate Admissions
222 S. Copeland Street
314 Westcott Building
Tallahassee, FL. 32306-1410
Electronic transcripts to: graduateadmissions@fsu.edu
**If you graduated from FSU your transcripts are on file with the University. You do not need to request that a copy be sent.
Advanced Standing Program Requirements
The degree is awarded upon completion of a minimum of 39 semester hours, including 27 hours of on-campus instruction and 12 hours of field instruction.
MSW Advanced Standing (4-term) Full-time Program of Studies (Clinical Concentration only)
- SOW 5807 (3) Clinical Practice
- SOW 5125 (3) Psychopathology in Clinical Practice
- SOW 5432 (3) Evaluation of Social Work Practice
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5535 (12) (#) Graduate Field Instruction II
- SOW 5369 (3) (#) Integrative Seminar in Advanced Social Work Practice
- Total Credits to graduate 39
(#) These two courses are taken together after all other course work has been completed successfully.
A full description of coursework and application requirements can be found in the MSW Bulletin at: https://csw.fsu.edu/academics/master-social-work-msw/msw-overview.
Florida State University expects graduate students to maintain a 3.0 GPA in course work and a grader of “S” in each field instruction course.
Traditional MSW Program
Admission Requirements
- A Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from an accredited college or university.
- A GPA of at least 3.0 in upper-division courses at the undergraduate level.
- Have a liberal arts foundation, demonstrated by a liberal arts degree or 36 hours of course work in the following curriculum areas:
- Area I: Mathematics (6 hours)
- Area II: English (6 hours)
- Area III: History/ Social Sciences (6-12 hours)
- Area IV: Humanities/ Fine Arts (5-11 hours)
- Area V: Natural Science (7 hours)
- FSU PC does not require nationally standardized graduate admissions tests, such as GRE, for Master’s programs.
- Apply online and pay $30 application fee online.
- Apply to the College of Social Work
- Statement of Purpose
- References (3)
- Resume
- Official transcripts from each college or University attended. Request transcripts to be sent to:
- Florida State University
Office of Graduate Admissions
222 S. Copeland Street
314 Westcott Building
Tallahassee, FL. 32306-1410
Electronic transcripts to: graduateadmissions@fsu.edu
**If you graduated from FSU your transcripts are on file with the University. You do not need to request that a copy be sent.
Traditional Program of Studies
- SOW 5034 (3) The Social Work Profession
- SOW 5103 (3) Human Behavior and the Social Environment
- SOW 5308 (3) Social Work Practice
- SOW 5235 (3) Policies and Programs in Social Services
- SOW 5324 (3) Social Work Practice with Groups and Communities
- SOW 5404 (3) Introduction to Social Work Research
- SOW 5125 (3) Psychopathology in Clinical Practice
- SOW 5432 (3) Evaluation of Social Work Practice
- SOW 5807 (3) Clinical Practice
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5xxx (3) Elective
- SOW 5532 (10) Graduate Field Instruction I
- SOW 5535 (12) (#) Graduate Field Instruction II
- SOW 5369 (3) (#) Integrative Seminar in Advanced Social Work Practice
- TOTAL CREDITS TO GRADUATE 61
(#) These two courses are taken together after all other course work has been completed successfully.
Florida State University expects graduate students to maintain a 3.0 GPA in course work and a grader of “S” in each field instruction course.
A full description of coursework and application requirements can be found in the MSW Bulletin at: https://csw.fsu.edu/academics/master-social-work-msw/msw-overview.