Practice Doctorate Student & Alumni Toolkit

Practice Doctorate Student & Alumni Toolkit
 

Congratulations on enrolling in or completing your practice doctorate degree! If you plan to graduate or have graduated from a practice doctorate program not accredited by CSWE, this toolkit is for you. Review the steps below to assist with post-degree licensure and/or employment.

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Step 1: Search in the CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs 

Unsure whether your practice doctorate program’s CSWE-accreditation status applies to your degree? Review the CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs. For questions, contact [email protected].

Remember, even if your practice doctorate program is not accredited by CSWE, your degree is earned from an institution that is institutionally accredited. Review the social work education continuum to understand CSWE’s scope of accreditation. Research doctorates (i.e., PhD) are not accredited by CSWE.

Step 2: Review the Memo to the Social Work Profession

The Memo to the Social Work Profession includes a call to action to social work licensing boards, employers, and professional decision-makers to consider prior graduates’ qualifications equivalent to graduates from future CSWE-accredited practice doctorate programs.

Step 3: Read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Read our FAQs.

The accreditation process is multi-modality, including self-studies, site visits, and compliance documentation that occurs in real-time by peer educators and cannot be conducted retroactively. Therefore, CSWE does not retroactively recognize a degree as earned from a CSWE-accredited program prior to the program earning candidacy status.
Step 4: Research Licensure Implications
Social work licensing boards are urged to recognize that practice doctorate programs did not have access to CSWE-accreditation until the pilot review concluded in 2025.

In May 2025, CSWE contacted all licensing boards across the United States and its territories providing them with the Memo to the Social Work Profession and encouraging any future licensing statutes to consider that CSWE-accreditation was not widely available until 2025. 

Check out ASWB's post-degree licensing requirements by state to learn more about licensing options available at the doctorate level.
Step 5: Explore Implications for Employment in Academia 

Summary
For future roles in academia, the accreditation standards for teaching and/or administering a baccalaureate, master's, or practice doctorate social work education program heavily emphasize the CSWE-accredited master's degree and 2-years of master’s-degree social work practice experience. While doctorate degrees are required for some roles, there are currently no accreditation standards that require a CSWE-accredited practice doctorate degree.

Additional Qualifications Disclaimer
Each program has autonomy to require qualifications in addition to those set by the accreditation standards. Institutions, state-based higher education authorities (e.g., boards of education), and/or institutional accreditors may require specific credentials and qualifications beyond the CSWE minimums for teaching, program directorship, field education directorship, and/or field instruction. For questions, inquire directly with those entities.

Waiver Requests
If you don't meet CSWE minimum qualifications for teaching, program directorship, and/or field education directorship, then your employer may request a waiver on your behalf. Review policy 4.5. Waivers to Accreditation Standards. Note that waiver approvals are not guaranteed.

Alternatively, an individual without the CSWE minimum qualifications can:
  • Co-teach courses with qualified faculty members to infuse their unique expertise into the curriculum;
  • Serve as an associate/assistant director or coordinator for the program or field education reporting to the qualified program director or field education director; or
  • Serve as a task supervisor in partnership with a qualified field instructor/supervisor. 
Do I qualify to teach social work? 
For non-practice courses, each program determines the best faculty members and qualifications needed to teach that course/content. There are no credentials nor practice experience required to teach non-practice courses in baccalaureate and master's social work programs.

For practice courses,  you must possess a master’s degree in social work from a CSWE accredited program and have a minimum of two years of post-master’s social work practice experience to teach in baccalaureate and master’s programs.

Curious about social work practice courses? Each program defines which courses they consider to be practice courses, whether required or elective. Examples are included in the 2022 EPAS Interpretation Guide.
 
To teach in a practice doctorate social work program, you must have a doctorate degree, and the majority of full-time faculty must have a CSWE-accredited master's degree and 2 or more years post-master’s degree social work practice experience.

Do I qualify to serve as a program director?
To serve as a program director for baccalaureate and master’s social work programs, you must possess a CSWE-accredited master’s degree in social work.

To serve as program director in a practice doctorate social work program, you must possess a doctorate degree in social work (i.e., DSW or PhD), a CSWE-accredited master's degree, and 2 or more years post-master's degree social work practice experience.

Do I qualify to serve as a field education director?
To serve as a field education director for baccalaureate social work programs, you must possess a master’s degree from a CSWE-accredited program and have at least two years of post-baccalaureate or post-master’s social work practice experience.

To serve as field education director in a master’s social work program, you must have a CSWE-accredited master's degree and 2-years post-master’s degree social work practice experience.

Do I qualify to serve as a field instructor?
To serve as a field instructor for baccalaureate social work programs, you must possess a baccalaureate or master’s degree from a CSWE accredited program and have at least two years of post-degree social work practice experience.

To serve as a field instructor in a master’s social work program, you must have a CSWE-accredited master's degree and 2-years post-master’s degree social work practice experience.

How do I calculate post-social work degree practice experience?
Post-degree social work practice experience is broadly defined (macro, mezzo, and micro) in the 2022 EPAS glossary and 2025 Accreditation Standards glossary. Importantly, practice experience does not include academic appointments.

Through documentation on each faculty member’s curriculum vitae, programs decide which experiences align with the definition. Accreditation staff cannot evaluate nor determine if specific experience(s) count towards the two-year minimum.

Post-degree social work practice experience can be earned anytime post-degree in an individual’s career. This means that enrolled doctorate students, and even employed faculty members, can continue to accrue social work practice experience. The two years can also be calculated as full-time equivalency. This means part-time experience counts towards the two-year minimum. 

Faculty Composition Considerations
When hiring and organizing their faculty teams, programs must consider compliance with the following requirements:
  • Baccalaureate Programs: The majority of the full-time baccalaureate faculty must have a master’s degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited program.
  • Master’s Programs: The majority of the full-time master’s faculty must have a master’s degree in social work and a doctorate degree, preferably in social work.
  • Practice Doctorate Programs: All full-time practice doctorate faculty must have a doctorate degree, and the majority must also have a CSWE-accredited master's degree and 2 or more years post-master’s degree social work practice experience.

Step 6: Insert Language on Your Cover Letters or Applications

If licensing boards or employers have questions about the accredited status of your practice doctorate program, insert the following language on your cover letters or applications:

Per CSWE’s Memo to the Social Work Profession, the accrediting body for social work education implores social work licensing boards, employers, and professional decision-makers to recognize that practice doctorate programs did not have access to CSWE-accreditation until the pilot review concluded in 2025. CSWE asks that graduates’ careers not be negatively impacted nor penalized, and their qualifications considered equivalent to those who graduate from future CSWE-accredited practice doctorate programs. Learn more about accreditation here. Questions may be directed to [email protected]. It is also important to note that my degree was earned from an accredited institution.