Are you ready for a career that empowers you to:
- work for social action and social justice?
- connect service and community?
- counsel and help those in need?
To be a social worker requires empathy and self-awareness, an understanding of the social problems that affect people, and a commitment to the ethics of a challenging and satisfying profession.
At the Silver School of Social Work, you can translate your social concern into a professional career of helping people in need, and receive the foundation necessary to work for social action and social justice. The Bachelor of Science in Social Work program teaches you how to counsel and serve people within the client’s context – social, economic, and cultural – whether you are helping a child in foster care, a homeless teen mother, an isolated elderly person, or a developmentally challenged adolescent. Classes are small, allowing you to study and train in a supportive, nurturing community environment.
Students in this program will gain an in-depth understanding of the many complex social problems of our time that exist in every strata of society. They will also learn what can be done to alleviate some of these problems. Through a program of more than 600 hours of on-site field learning in agencies throughout the metropolitan area, undergraduates have the kind of social work experience usually found only at the graduate level. Students have the opportunity to learn social work within a global perspective, including work with refugees, immigrant populations, and optional study abroad trips.
In addition to foundational classes, our students can explore various aspects of social work through a substantial range of relevant electives. Some of our most recent additions include Global Perspectives in International Social Policy; Social Justice and Peacemaking; and Service Learning for Community Engagement. To view all course descriptions, click here.
The undergraduate program at the Silver School of Social Work is broad enough to permit many choices. Because of the extensive professional training you receive as an undergraduate, if you wish, you may be able to earn a master's degree with only one additional year of study. If, on the other hand, you want to go to work immediately upon graduation, you will be well prepared to enter your profession.
The School's program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
degree requirements
All candidates are required to complete 128 credits in three areas as described below.
liberal arts (64 credits)
The liberal arts foundation of this program broadens the perspective of the student and is fundamental to the basic understanding of social work. These courses, offered at the College of Arts and Science, satisfy the University's liberal arts requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree. They are completed prior to the social work major.
The 64 credits of liberal arts will be taken from the fields of humanities, social science, and human biology. Students must complete the following requirements satisfactorily.
| Liberal Arts Core (20 credits) | |
| Credits | |
| Writing workshops | 8 |
| Introduction to psychology | 4 |
| Introduction to sociology | 4 |
| Human biology | 4 |
| Liberal Arts Course Distribution (28 credits) | |
| Humanities | 12 |
| Social sciences | 16 |
| Unrestricted Electives | 16 |
A student's selection of specific courses is made with the approval of the Silver School of Social Work adviser.
pre-social work major (8 credits)
This introductory core of two courses is of paramount importance to the beginning student. Planned for the freshman and sophomore years, it is taught by Silver School of Social Work faculty. These courses are designed to help beginning students test their capacity and motivation for careers in social work.
Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare
S03.0001 4 credits.
This course provides an overview of the social work profession. It orients the student to the value system and goals of social work and examines the various professional modalities of work with individuals, families, groups, and the community. Different agencies and fields of practice are presented with a focus on the role of the generalist social worker and the social service delivery system. Through guest speakers and special assignments, students have the opportunity to test their interest in, and suitability for, the field of social work.
Skills in Interpersonal Communication
S03.0002 4 credits.
This course promotes interpersonal sensitivity, observational skills, and beginning interviewing ability. Content includes the basic tools of intervention such as attuned listening, appropriate questioning and support, empathic understanding, and self-awareness. A variety of simulated and actual person-to-person situations are presented through utilization of audiovisual materials, field observations, and experiential exercises.
social work major (56 credits)
Courses in the social work major core are designed to (1) cover the content areas relevant to social work values, knowledge, and practice and (2) merge classroom and field practice so that content and experience are joined into a single body of knowledge and skills.
The content areas covered by these courses are the following:
- Human behavior in the social environment
- Research methodology
- Social welfare programs and policies
- Social work practice
- Field work
Courses in social work practice are closely integrated with supervised social agency experience so that the student has the opportunity to apply in practice the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom. Field placements are designed around two objectives:
- Placement of students in substantive areas of interest (e.g., child welfare, medical social work, public welfare, corrections, aging, etc.).
- Placement of students in agency settings having familiarity with and interest in the baccalaureate social worker. Residence Requirement. Students enrolled for degree programs at New York University are expected to take their courses, including summer school, at New York University. Exceptions are considered by the program director on a case-by-case basis and must be approved in advance.
Social Work Minor and Individual Courses
Students in the College of Arts and Science may enroll in the minor in social work given jointly by the Silver School of Social Work and the College of Arts and Science. The minor consists of four courses, to be selected in consultation with the program director. Students with a social work minor may not enroll in Social Work Practice I and II, or in Field Instruction I and II.
Students enrolled in other schools in the University are invited to register for courses given in the Silver School of Social Work for which they have the appropriate educational background. Permission to register for the minor in social work or for undergraduate social work courses must be obtained from the Director of the undergraduate social work program, 1 Washington Square North, (212) 998-5944.
Minor and Dual Major
Students majoring in social work and enrolled in the undergraduate social work program may minor in a subject offered by another department at New York University. All social work requirements for a major and all requirements for the minor must be met, no course credits may be applied twice to both the major and the minor, and the appropriate departmental permissions are to be obtained.
Students majoring in social work and enrolled in the undergraduate social work program may have a second major offered by another department at New York University. All requirements for both majors must be met, no course credits may be applied twice to the two majors, and the appropriate departmental permissions are to be obtained.