)

2023 Annual Program Meeting

It's Time to Act: Defining and Reckoning with Anti-Racist Social Work Education
Learn More
)

2022 EPAS Toolkit Now Available

Learn more about the accreditation resources available
Access the Toolkit
)

Spark a Conversation!

Join our free online community to exchange best practices with social work educators
Join now
  • CSWE Celebrates Its Board of Accreditation

    ALEXANDRIA, VA,  April 7, 2023  –  Today, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) announces our next collective step forward in modernizing the association’s structure by welcoming the newly named CSWE Board of Accreditation (BOA) (formerly CSWE Commission on Accreditation). The CSWE-BOA is recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) to confer accreditation status to baccalaureate and master’s social work degree programs and fellowship programs in the United States and its territories.

  • CSWE Calls for Academic Freedom in Higher Education

    Social work is a public service field founded on core values of justice, dignity and worth of a person, human relations, integrity, and competence; as a profession, social work is committed to anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices in serving diverse groups of people. We remain steadfast in our commitment to engage in anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the preparation of social work students. Therefore, CSWE calls upon social work educators, students, community partners, and allies to protect academic freedom and preserve the capacity of education as a tenet of democracy.

  • Social Work Leadership Roundtable Joint Statement

    As members of the Social Work Leadership Roundtable (i.e., American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, Association of Social Work Boards, Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, Council on Social Work Education, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work, Grand Challenges for Social Work, National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work, National Association of Black Social Workers, National Association of Social Workers, and Saint Louis Group)--together, we call on social work professionals, allies, and the broader public to join us in recommitting to building healthy lives and communities and culturally responsive systems. We invite conversations and actions that advance social, economic, and environmental justice. In these divisive and hostile times, we must focus on evidence-informed change and transformation that can lead to effective systems.

Accreditation

CSWE Accreditation

CSWE's Commission on Accreditation (COA) is responsible for developing accreditation standards that define competent preparation and ensuring that social work programs meet these standards. In accordance with the requirements of CSWE's recognition body, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the CSWE Office of Social Work Accreditation…



Accredited

Fully Accredited


Accredited (Conditional)

Accredited with documented noncompliance with one or more standards that must be addressed within a year


Accredited (Withdrawal in Progress)

Accredited with a planned closure date


Candidacy

Program has completed at least one year of Candidacy process and is moving toward full accreditation within two years


Pre-Candidacy

Program has had standards approved in draft form and is scheduled to be reviewed for Candidacy status within one year

Search Directory of Accredited Programs

Model.ImageAltText

About Us

Founded in 1952, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the national association representing social work education in the United States. Its members include over 750 accredited baccalaureate and master’s degree social work programs, as well as individual social work educators, practitioners, and agencies dedicated to advancing quality social work education. Through its many initiatives, activities, and centers, CSWE supports quality social work education and provides opportunities for leadership and professional development, so that social workers play a central role in achieving the profession’s goals of social and economic justice.

Learn More
Woman looking at laptop

Careers

Find talent and more. Find opportunity and more.

Job Search

Model.ImageAltText

Research

The CSWE organizational mission includes the charge to advocate for social work education and research. CSWE's strategic plan outlines the need for research to inform policy and practice and to serve the needs of CSWE member programs—their deans, directors, faculty members, and students. The CSWE Commission on Research (COR) and CSWE research staff work to serve that need. The COR developed research priorities with input from the CSWE commissions and councils to guide their work; they will report on progress periodically.

Learn More

Metrics

Current Number of Social Work Programs 
(as of February 2023)

  • 318

    accredited master's programs

  • 29

    master's programs in candidacy

  • 3

    master's programs in pre-candidacy

  • 542

    accredited baccalaureate programs

  • 15

    baccalaureate programs in candidacy

  • 2

    baccalaureate programs in pre-candidacy

  • 4

    accredited post-master's fellowship programs