The Augsburg Master of Social Work program is a program of distinction and quality, fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Our purpose is to prepare social work students for advanced, professional practice in public and non-profit agency settings. Our mission is to develop social workers for practice that promotes social justice and empowerment toward the wellbeing of people in a diverse and global society.

Our highly integrated curriculum provides a well-rounded, coherent education combining social work theory, policy, practice methods, skills training, research, and evaluation techniques. Our class sizes of 10-25 offer you individualized attention from outstanding faculty who are internationally known for their teaching and research. Adjunct faculty are innovative practitioners and administrators from agency-based settings.

Field placements offer challenging and rewarding experiences in both urban and rural settings, and include opportunities in culturally diverse settings. Additionally, we offer trips abroad to compare social services of other countries, including England, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, and Taiwan.

As you progress through our MSW curriculum, you will learn:

• how an individual lives in and is affected by his or her environment;

• how social policies and programs affect individuals, families, communities, and society;

• to use a range of client-centered approaches to practices with client groups of all types and sizes;

• to apply theories and methods of practice through the field placement experience;

• the importance of practice informed by sound, scholarly research; and how to evaluate the effectiveness of your social work practice and of social work programs.

As an Augsburg MSW graduate, you will be better prepared to emphasize your clients’ strengths, problem solve within a holistic, systems framework, and practice social work informed by solid research and evaluation.