Application Materials
- Unofficial transcripts from all higher education institutions attended.
- Employment history (resume or vita)
- Personal statement
- Two reference letters with cover letter attached for each reference. Please exclude personal, pastoral and relative references. If you graduated within the past 5 years, you must provide at least one academic reference.
Personal Statement
Your personal statement serves as a writing sample and should demonstrate critical thinking, graduate level writing, and be formatted in APA style (7th edition), including a title page and reference section (not included in the 5-page limit). All prompts listed in the three paragraphs below are to be addressed in your statement.
- Why are you interested in pursuing a DSW at this stage in your career? Two pieces to address are: how your practice experience informs the concentration area you are interested in (i.e., administration and leadership, clinical social work, military behavioral health, or social work education) and what impact do you expect a DSW education to have on your career?
- Contemporary social work calls for practice informed research and research informed practice. Identify a social work practice domain of your interest and practice that has been overlooked or lacks adequate research and attention in academia. How does the contemporary literature influence your understanding of your identified issue and how does it impact your identified population? Articulate how you might tackle this concern.
- Your discussion should demonstrate critical thinking about social work practice, application of current literature, a basic understanding of the practice problem or challenge identified and reflect an interest in improving practice.
Admissions Requirements
- Applicants should hold a Master of Social Work degree from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) with a minimum cumulative graduate GPA of 3.0 (above a 3.5 is preferred).
- Additionally, students should have sufficient information technology skills to be successful in an online doctoral program.
- Finally, a minimum of two years post-MSW experience is required at the time of application.
Application Deadlines
Applications for the Summer 2025 DSW cohort is now live.
Application reviews will not begin until mid-late august for early submissions.
Priority Deadline for Summer 2025 is March 1.
Deadline to apply for Summer 2025 is April 15.