Admission Requirements

Program application schedule

• Application opens (next cycle): Opens Fall 2024
• Deadline to apply: Annually on January 31st. (Eastern Standard Time)

The admission cycle for students starting in 2025 is officially open. 

Advanced Standing students begin in the summer of their admission year.

Regular Standing students begin in the fall of their admission year.

 

Regular Standing or Advanced Standing: Which should you apply for?

It depends on the bachelor’s degree you have.

• Apply for Regular Standing if your bachelor’s degree isn’t in social work.
• Apply for Advanced Standing if you have a CSWE-accredited bachelor’s degree in social work within the last seven years.

Have these documents ready

As you complete your application, have the following documents ready to submit to SocialWorkCAS:

• Official transcripts (undergraduate and graduate)
• Resume
• Personal statement/essay
• Three (3) reference letters

The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required for admission.

Transcript Information:

You will need to order transcripts from each institution you have ever received a college credit from (even dual credits completed in high school). For example, if you completed credits at a community college, but then finished your undergraduate degree at a different university, you will need to order a transcript from each of those schools even though the community college credits will already show up as transfer credits on your university transcript. This is how SocialWorkCAS will fully verify them. Your transcripts must be verified before the application deadline. The verification process can take up to four weeks. Your admissions packet is not complete until your transcripts have been verified.

NOTE: The recipient of your electronic transcripts must be "SocialWorkCAS" rather than MSU's Graduate College.

It is advised that you work to complete and submit your application as far in advance of the deadline as you can so that SocialWorkCAS has time to verify all of your application materials. Submitting closer to the due date increases the risk of your materials not getting verified in time to be considered for admission.

Review transfer credit policy