MSW Outreach Program

Are you currently employed by a social service agency? Is your home community too far away from the University to attend the MSW Campus Program? The MSW Outreach Program is designed especially for someone like you.

Offered throughout the state of Illinois for more than 30 years, the MSW Outreach Program allows you to work full-time while pursuing a graduate degree. Each year, one or two communities in the state of Illinois host this program, with the location based on the number of qualified candidates in a particular area.

During the first two years, you will take evening and online classes in your home community. After completing your coursework, you will have a one-semester, full-time requirement (typically one day per week) on campus and then a two-semester internship that you may complete in your home community—possibly your place of employment.

The MSW program prepares students for advanced social work practice and research in public and private agencies in one of five concentrations: advocacy, leadership, and social change; children, youth and family services; mental health; health care; and school social work. Students are prepared for leadership roles in prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation; program development and analysis; direct service, supervision, planning and administration.

Requirements
Concentrations
Field Education
Sample Timeline
Admission Requirements & Application Materials
Academic Outreach Tuition and Fee Schedule

Requirements

A total of 9 to 14 courses plus an internship are required for the Master of Social Work. Each class is worth four hours of graduate credit. During the first two years, you will take evening and online classes (5-9 total) in your home community. After completing your coursework in your home community, you will have a one-semester, full-time requirement (typically one day per week) on campus and then an internship that you may complete in your home community—possibly your place of employment.

If you have earned a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from an accredited social work program within the past seven years, you are considered to have met the foundation coursework requirements and, therefore, have 9 courses to complete and one-semester internship. All other students have 14 courses to complete and a two-semester internship. The internship occurs near the end of the program and must be completed in your area of concentration. All students must also complete a statistics course from a junior college or four-year institution earning a C (2.0) or better.

Concentrations

As an MSW student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, you will receive expert instruction in advanced social work practice and research methods. While working on your degree, you’ll be able to develop your skills in one of five concentrations:

Advocacy, Leadership, and Social Change

This concentration prepares students for social work careers that emphasize social change both within social service agencies and through public advocacy. The social work profession has a long tradition of working toward improving the lives of disadvantaged citizens through advocacy efforts with political officials and others. It likewise has worked to improve human services through the more effective management of agencies.

There are many opportunities for social workers to assume leadership positions in both public nonprofit community agencies in the U.S. and internationally. The ALSC concentration provides students with advanced training useful in pursuing careers in any of these areas of community and policy practice. Our curriculum also incorporates international social work. For example, students interested in an international focus may pursue a graduate minor through the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program.

*The ALSC concentration may not be available for the MSW Outreach Program for this year.

Children, Youth and Family Services

This concentration is designed to help students develop the knowledge and skills they need to effectively identify and address the critical needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged children, youth, and families. Students in this concentration will be prepared to pursue careers in direct practice, administration, research, or policy related positions with agencies focused on serving children, youth, and families. Such agencies include but are not limited to public and private child welfare agencies, juvenile and family courts, private foundations, and policy and research related institutions.

Mental Health

Social workers in the field of mental health work with individuals, families, and groups in dealing with internal, interpersonal, and environmental problems that affect mental health and social functioning. They also plan, administer, and evaluate mental health services. The emphasis in the curriculum is preparing students to provide, coordinate, and administer community-based services for people who encounter emotional stress. Also included are services for substance abusers. Social workers provide more than half of the mental health services in the country.

Within the mental health concentration, students have the opportunity to obtain a certificate in evidence-based practice (EBP) with children and adolescents. This program will allow students to take classes infused with evidenced-based theories and interventions that research indicates are effective in working with children and their families. Upon completion of the MSW program, students will receive an (EBP) certificate that will be recognized by the Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health, and Child and Adolescent Service System.

Health Care

Social workers in the health care field collaborate with other health professionals in providing patient care, and serve to mobilize family, friends, and other supportive networks on the patient’s behalf. They act as a link between health agencies and other community services. Social workers in this concentration work in hospitals and clinics, as well as in federal, state, and local public health centers, with physicians in private or group medical practices, on home health care teams, and/or with nursing, home health, and planning agencies. Health care social workers are on the staff of medical centers across the country.

School Social Work

The public school system offers expanding and challenging opportunities for social work practice and innovation. The school social work concentration emphasizes social work services in schools as a process in school-community-pupil relations that focuses on planned system change, consultation, and interdisciplinary teaming. The concentration prepares social workers for practice in Illinois public schools and includes knowledge and skills to address the most pressing needs of public school children and their families—for social work practice in educational settings, for understanding of the impact of racism, and for appreciation of the diverse needs of special populations and how to address those needs.

Field Education

A unique feature of our MSW program is our internship structure. For those students who do not have an undergraduate social work degree, you will begin your internship during the last two semesters of the MSW program once your foundation, advanced, and concentration courses are complete (for advanced standing students, you will complete a one semester internship during your last semester, usually summer, once your advanced and concentration courses are complete*). Due to this distinctive structure, the internship can be completed at a social service agency anywhere in Illinois, and at times, outside the state (excluding the schools concentration).

Along with your internship, you will participate in an on-line seminar class that focuses on the integration of your internship with social work values, ethics, and practice.

Another benefit of our internship structure is our full-time faculty members who are specifically devoted to field education. This means you receive individualized attention from field faculty—often with expertise in your area of interest—to assist you in preparing for your internship.

You have significant input into the planning process of your internship- the type of setting you are placed in, the preferred geographic location, and the kinds of learning opportunities you will experience. You do not find an internship on your own- we do that for you as we keep in mind your learning goals and the type of supervision you desire. You will have the opportunity to interview at 2-3 agencies/school districts before settling on one. Once you have started your internship, our field faculty will meet with you at your site to review your progress, discuss any concerns, and provide support.

*School Social Work Advanced Standing students will begin their one semester internship and online seminar class the following Fall.

Sample Timeline for the MSW Outreach Program

This example provides a timeframe option, but is not intended to substitute for academic advising. Each student’s program is individually planned and must be approved by the student’s adviser. The length of the program may vary depending on prerequisite, foundation requirements, and concentration, as well as the student’s individual timeframe for the program.

If you have a Bachelor’s Degree in social work within the past 7 years from an accredited social work program, you may be eligible for the Advanced Standing Program. The Advanced Standing program will allow you to enroll directly in advanced and concentration coursework. Your field education placement will also focus on advanced practice.