The University of St. Thomas School of Social Work offers an online Doctorate in Social Work (DSW) program. Graduates are prepared to:
- Engage in transformative teaching;
- Develop an identity as scholar practitioners;
- Write for publication; and
- Pursue social justice through service and leadership
The focus of our curriculum is Education as Practice in response to the growing need for social work educators. In a three-year curriculum of 45 credits, students, in a cohort model, start with a weekend orientation and 2-week on-campus summer residency course, followed by four successive, 8-week sessions in fall and spring. Online synchronous/asynchronous instruction provides accessibility for working professionals throughout the country. Students complete a "Banded" dissertation, grounded in students’ long-range scholarship agenda/interests, to demonstrate capacity to engage in scholarship, contribute to scholarly literature, and think critically as leaders.
Admission requires an MSW from a CSWE-accredited program, a minimum two years post-MSW social work practice experience, previous teaching experience in higher education (adjunct or full-time), minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on 4.0 scale, three letters of recommendation, a writing sample, and personal statement. We look for a commitment to teach and lead in social work profession.