University at Buffalo - The State University of New York Online MSW Programs

University at Buffalo (SUNY) offers a part-time traditional standing and advanced standing online MSW program with a concentration in evidence-based practice with trauma-informed and human rights perspectives. The program’s Foundation coursework is delivered entirely online, while many of the Advanced courses are also available online. Students have the ability to design their advanced year of study based on their academic and professional goals. As all of the Foundation courses are delivered 100% online, and many advanced courses are also offered entirely online, many students are able to design a program that does not require them to make any trips to campus; however, this may not always be the case, and depending on their selected advanced courses students may have to travel to campus for parts of the term.

 Learn More: Interview with Tony Guzman – Director of Online Programs at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work
“Our mission is to promote a better society through the generation and transmission of knowledge…and the support of diversity in academic and social settings.” Read more

Traditional standing students must complete 60 credit hours and 900 hours of field practicum (divided into one 420-hour foundational practicum and one 480-hour advanced practicum), while advanced standing students complete 35 credit hours and 480 hours of field practicum. For foundational placements, the University at Buffalo’s field placement staff match students to an agency site that is within their geographic location; for their advanced practicum, students select an agency site that matches their academic and career goals.

The Traditional Standing Track

Traditional standing students can complete the full 60-credit program through three years of part-time study. The foundational classes within the traditional standing track include courses such as Theories of Human Behavior and Development, Scientific Methods in Social Work, Diversity and Oppression, Theories of Organizational Behavior and Development, Interventions I and II, and Perspectives on Trauma and Human Rights.

After completing their foundational coursework, students are able to select from a variety of Advanced Interventions Courses, Advanced Topic Analysis Courses, and Electives. Examples of online Advanced Interventions Courses include Social Action for Community Change, Interventions with Families, Interventions with Groups, Interventions with Adults, and Crisis Intervention. Advanced Topic Analysis Courses that are offered online include Aging Populations and Their Families, Community Social Work, Assessment and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, Advanced Policy Development and Analysis, and Dual Disorders. Elective classes offered online include Trauma Theory and Treatment, Psychopathology, Addiction and the Family, and Behavior Disorders of Childhood.

Students start their foundational field practicum during their second year of part-time study, completing 420 hours of on-site work over the course of two semesters. In their third year, students complete an advanced field practicum that requires them to complete 480 hours over the course of two semesters.

The Advanced Standing Track

Students can complete the 35-credit Advanced Standing track over the course of two years of part-time study. Advanced standing students complete one 480-hour field practicum over the course of two semesters during their second year of study. Admission to the advanced standing track requires completion of a Bachelor of Social Work from a CSWE accredited program within the last six years.

The University at Buffalo’s (SUNY) online MSW program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).