Social Work, BA

About the Program

The Social Work Program educates students to become professionals in social work. The Social Work curriculum provides a professional social work foundation that is transferable to different settings, population groups and problem areas. Students select a curriculum focused in clinical, organizational, community, international and social justice issues with a strong emphasis on service learning in the community with excellence in scholarship.

The Social Work program at Purdue University Northwest fulfills the educational requirements for a license as a bachelor’s degree social worker as required by the State of Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IC 25-23.6-5-1.5). Social work license requirements differ from state-to-state, students should contact their home state’s licensing board for additional information regarding licensure requirements. 

Degree Requirements

• 120 Credit Hours
• Minimum grade of C required for all Social Work courses; C required for ENGL 10400; C- required for ENGL 10500
• Minimum GPA of 2.0 required for graduation
• Certain courses may only be available at one campus location

PNW General Education Core (30 Credits)

• English Composition (6 Credits): ENGL 10400 - English Composition I  and ENGL 10500 - English Composition II  
• Speech Communication (3 Credits): COM 11400 - Fundamentals of Speech Communication  
• Quantitative Reasoning (3 Credits):  SOC 38200 - Introduction To Statistics In Sociology   or STAT 11300 Statistics And Society  
• Natural Sciences (3 Credits): Select from the Natural Sciences Core list  
• Technology (3 Credits): Select from the Technology Core list  
• Humanities (3 Credits): Select from the Humanities Core list  
• Social Sciences (3 Credits): SOC 10000 Introductory Sociology       
• General Education Elective (3 Credits): PSY 12000 Elementary Psychology    
• First-Year Experience (FYE) (3 Credits): SWRK 20100 Introduction To Social Work   

CHESS College Core (24 Credits)

• Four (4) College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences (CHESS) electives from courses outside of the student’s major. Electives may not be used toward the fulfillment of General Education requirements (*See notes below) (12 Credits)
• World Language - Proficiency through Level IV in one world language (12 Credits)

*Requirements for transfer students are based on the number of transfer credits accepted at PNW as follows:

1. Students who transfer with less than 30 credits need to take 4 CHESS Core Electives (12 credits)
2. Students who transfer with 30 credits or more and with less than 60 credits need to take 3 CHESS Core Electives (9 credits)
3. Students who transfer with 60 credits or more and with less than 90 credits need to take 2 CHESS Core Electives (6 credits)
4. Students who transfer with 90 credits or more need to take 1 CHESS Core Elective (3 credits)

Major Core (45 Credits)

• SWRK 24000 - Introduction To Social Policy And Programs
• SWRK 30100 - Social Work Research
• SWRK 32100 - Human Behavior In The Social Environment I
• SWRK 32200 - Human Behavior In The Social Environment II
• SWRK 35100 - Junior Practicum And Integrative Seminar
• SWRK 36100 - Institutional Social Welfare
• SWRK 36200 - Social Work Practice I
• SWRK 36300 - Social Work Practice II
• SWRK 36501 - Diversity And Social Justice
• SWRK 36700 - Macro Practice: Human Service Organizations And The Community
• SWRK 46100 - Senior Practicum And Integrative Seminar I
• SWRK 46400 - Senior Practicum And Integrative Seminar II
• Social Work Elective (3 Credits) - one SWRK course 30000-level or above

Other Required Courses (21 Credits)

• Free Electives (21 Credits)

Civics Literacy Proficiency

The Civics Literacy Proficiency activities are designed to develop civic knowledge of Purdue Northwest students in an effort to graduate a more informed citizenry.

Students will complete the Proficiency by passing a test of civic knowledge, and completing one of three paths:

• Attending six approved civics-related events and completing an assessment for each; or
• Completing 12 podcasts created by the Purdue Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement that use C-SPAN material and completing an assessment for each; or
• Earning a passing grade for one of the approved courses (or transferring in approved AP or departmental credit in lieu of taking a course)

For more information visit the Civics Literacy Proficiency website.

Total 120 Credits Required

Degree Map

Resources

The 8 semester plan of study is a recommended sequence of classes designed to show how this program can be completed within four years.

Visit the 15 to Finish website for information and resources.

For career information, click here to visit the Careers and Employment Trends page.

For Financial Aid eligibility, click here.  See Important Dates and Deadlines for annual FAFSA filing deadlines and Indiana state aid deadlines. State Financial Aid recipients are required to complete 30 credits per calendar year to maintain eligibility for the 21st Century Scholars award and the On-time Frank O’Bannon grant.

Financial Guarantee: If you follow the degree map and find a course unavailable, you may be able to take the course for free in a future semester.  Certain exclusions apply. 

College Scorecard

The U.S. Department of Education has created a scorecard for each university and its programs.  The scorecard shows data for the university such as graduation rate, average annual cost, and median earnings.  Then, when certain minimum standards have been met, data are available for a specific program.  That data could include median earnings, median total debt, and number of graduates. The link below will help you learn more:

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?490805-Purdue-University-Northwest&fos_code=4407&fos_credential=3