The Silver School of Social Work at New York University, founded in 1960, is among the nation's leading institutions for the education of professional social workers. The School offers accredited programs at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels, and serves as a major postgraduate training center for hundreds of practitioners in the New York region. The School's Master of Social Work (MSW) program is distinguished for its focus on clinical social work, and for the education of relationship-centered, reflective practitioners. The School has developed unique educational partnerships with over 500 public and non-profit agencies throughout the tri-state area. Students at the School of Social Work collectively provide more than one half-million hours of service each year through their field placements and volunteer work. The School's faculty are involved in an extraordinary range of scholarly research initiatives, work intensively with government and community-based agencies, and play key roles in major social work journals.
On the School's main Washington Square campus, faculty and administrative offices are centrally housed in three historic town houses bordering the famous Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The School's MSW program is also available on the campuses of St. Thomas Aquinas College in Rockland County, New York; the College of Staten Island; and Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester County, New York.