MSW Admission Requirements

ELIGIBILITY FOR MSW PROGRAMS

  • Application and Admission to the School of Social Work (see Applying to the Program tab)
  • Admission to the University of Arkansas Graduate School. (You will apply after you are admitted to the MSW program in Spring 2025 unless you are an international student. If you are an international student, please apply to the University of Arkansas Graduate School first)

REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY FOR REGULAR (TRADITIONAL) TWO-YEAR AND EXTENDED THREE-YEAR MSW PROGRAMS:

  •  A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university (official transcripts must be provided). International bachelor’s degrees are submitted to the Council on Social Work Education International Social Work Degree Recognition and Evaluation Service for a determination of equivalency. Contact www.cswe.org for further information.
  •  Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (based on 4-point scale) for the last 60 hours leading up to the 1st bachelor’s degree.
  • With an Last 60 GPA ≥ 2.75 but below 3.0 may be considered for conditional admission to the Regular (2-year) or Extended (3-year) programs if you complete the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Millers Analogies Test (MAT) and submit your results. Additionally, if the applicant has a master’s degree from an accredited institution, the graduate GPA may be reviewed by the School as part of the admission decision process.
  •  Completion of a basic statistics course, a biology or human science course and an arts or fine arts course.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY FOR ADVANCED STANDING PROGRAMS

Applicants to the Advanced Standing program (on campus and online) must meet all the requirements for admission to the Master of Social Work degree program listed above.

  •  In addition, Advanced Standing applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in social work from a CSWE accredited program within the last 6 years. International degrees must be recognized through the International Social Work Degree Recognition and Evaluation Service. For more information about international degrees, contact www.cswe.org.
  • Applicants who earned their degree more than 6 years prior to application may petition for an exception, by documenting a significant post-bachelor’s

history of social work employment and ongoing continuing education.

(contact jkmorga@uark.edu or mswapply@uark.edu for more information)

  • Applicants to the Online Advanced Standing program must also meet specific technology requirement at the time of enrollment.

 

Admissions Timeline

  • The Regular (2-Year) program admits students each fall.
  • The Advanced Standing programs (on campus and online) admit students each summer.
  • The Regular Extended (3-year) program admits students in the fall in odd years only.
  • The MSW Programs do not admit students to start in the spring semester.