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.

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.