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Social Work Major in Pennsylvania
Are you passionate about social justice and enhancing the well-being of others? Through Messiah University's social work major, you will actively integrate your Christian faith with the field of social work and be challenged to explore how your faith influences your practice.
Study Social Work at a Christian University
The Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree at Messiah University, a top-ranked Christian university, is nationally accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). As a graduate of the social work degree program at Messiah University, you qualify for advanced standing status in an accredited Master of Social Work (MSW) degree program, meaning you can go on to earn your MSW in just one year. Messiah University’s unique approach to the BSW degree intentionally integrates Christian faith formation and extensive field education, effectively preparing you to become a competent and skilled professional social worker.
Our accredited degree program gives you hands-on experience working with human services agencies, and helping those in social, emotional or economic need. Our social work students often connect with each other through a common theme—they are passionate about social justice and enhancing the well-being of others. Throughout the social work program, you actively integrate your Christian faith with the field of social work and are challenged to explore how your faith influences your practice of social work.
As a social work major at Messiah University, you’ll be able to:
- Learn how to integrate principles of Christian faith with social work values, knowledge and skills.
- Partner with faculty to complete research on various topics in social work, and possibly event present at a conference. Past topics include: urban revitalization and the role of the church in the foster care system.
- Accumulate several hundred hours of experience by your senior year (most other schools do not have this experience until the senior year). This includes block placements where you work full-time for one semester, rather than the typical year-long placements with far less hours per week.
- Complete a master's program at one of many top universities around the country, if desired.
- Deepen your commitment to respecting diversity and enhancing social and economic justice for all people.
- Acquire professional interviewing, recording and problem-solving skills needed for entry-level employment.
- Prepare for a rewarding career in social service, corrections, child welfare, youth services, gerontology, probation and parole, juvenile and criminal justice, victims services, counseling, health care, Christian ministries, law enforcement, government, research and many other areas.
- Take challenging courses such as Cultural Anthropology, Human Diversity and Social Interaction, and Social Welfare Policies in the United States.
- Gain valuable hands-on experience—even in your first year—through field experiences in various social service agencies in the area.
- Complete a 400+ hour field placement during the spring semester of your senior year. This program is expanding into international locations such as Ecuador and Uganda, as well as domestic locations such as Chicago and Baltimore through the Baltimore Urban Studies Program.
- Join student-run organizations such as the Social Work Club, Diversity and Inclusion Club and Phi Alpha (national honor society of social work).
- Participate in interprofessional collaboration with the Department of Nursing and Doctor of Physical Therapy program.
As a graduate of the BSW social work degree program at Messiah University, you qualify for advanced standing status in an accredited Master of Social Work (MSW) degree program, meaning you can go on to earn your MSW in just one year. Learn more about Messiah’s MSW program.
Typically it is a 30 credit program, 15 credits in the fall and 15 credits in the spring. Some grad programs however, require a few summer classes prior to the fall semester.
And as a graduate of Messiah’s social work degree, you’ll be prepared for a variety of entry-level jobs in the social work profession. Or maybe you’d like to further your studies at graduate school - a path many of our graduates pursue – and you’ll be well prepared for that next step. Visit our FAQs for more info.
As a graduate of the social work program, you will be equipped to secure positions such as:
- Child, family and school social worker
- Medical and public health social worker
- Geriatric social worker
- Mental health and substance abuse social worker
- Private practice social worker
- Administrator
- Researcher
- Policy maker
- Advocate
For more information on career planning for the social work program, visit the Messiah University Career and Professional Development Center.
Messiah’s nationally recognized internship program places students in a variety of social work internships. A few examples include:
- Schools
- Hospitals
- Foster care and adoption agencies
- Retirement communities
- Prisons
- Children's homes
- Correction centers
- Other social service agencies
Programs related to Social Work
In the Social Work program, you will take a selection of courses that successfully prepare you for a career in a related field. Hands-on experiences and classroom learning within the framework of Christian faith will give you the skills and knowledge to achieve your goals. Our programs offer a wide variety of courses that will not only help you excel in your future career, but challenge you to develop a deeper understanding of your field of study.
Course options for Social Work:
Social Work (B.S.W)
Human Services Minor
Social Work careers and outcomes
Where our grads work
Graduates of the Social Work program work in positions of leadership in their places of employment, using the tools and knowledge a Messiah University education prepared them with. Each year, eager employers and some of the nation's best graduate schools welcome Messiah graduates into their organizations.
Where they work
- Adventures In Missions
- Americorps Vista
- Bethanna Christian Services
- COBYS Family Services
- Community Services for Children
- Compassion International
- Cumberland County Children & Youth Services
- Dauphin County Children and Youth
- Dauphin County Crisis Intervention
- Fairfax County Government
- Hillside Children's Center
- Holy Spirit Hospital
- Homemaker Service of the Metropolitan Area
- House of Healing
- Keystone Children and Family Services
- Mars Home for Youth
- Milton Hershey School
- National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
- New Alternatives
- Old Colony Elderly Services
- PA Mentor
- Park Pleasant Nursing Home
- Peace Corps
- Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
- Pennsylvania General Asssembly
- People's Emergency Center
- Philhaven
- Public Partnership
- Regional Resource Group
- Senior Friendship Centers
- Teach for America
- The Department of Veterans' Affairs
- The Mentor Network
- Tresslercare AfterCare and Prevention Program
- U.S. House of Representatives
- Uganda Studies Program
- United Cerebral Palsy
- United Disabilities Services
- United Methodist Home for Children
- United States Army War College
- YWCA of Greater Harrisburg
- Church World Service
What they do
- Behavioral Support Specialist
- Care Advisor
- Case Manager
- Caseworker
- Chief Operating Officer
- Child Development Partner
- Child Protective Services Caseworker
- Clinical Social Worker
- Community Worker
- Corporate Executive
- County Case Worker II
- Counselor
- Day Care Center Teacher
- Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy
- Executive Director
- Foster Care Social Worker
- Group Coordinator
- In-home Caregiver
- Legislator
- Mental Health Worker
- Military Social Worker
- Office Manager
- Professor
- Program Assistant
- Program Coordinator
- Program Director
- Project Assistant
- Psycho-Therapist
- Red Cross Volunteer
- Resident Advisor
- Resident Services Coordinator
- Residential Manager
- Residential Sociotherapist
- Staff Assistant
- Support Coordinator
- Teacher
- Therapeutic Support Staff
- Therapist
- Transitional Living Assistance Coordinator
- World Race
- Youth Counselor
- Educational Paraprofessional
Graduate school
- Bryn Mawr College
- California University of Pennsylvania
- Edinboro University
- Fordham University
- Kutztown University
- Marywood College
- Millersville University
- Rutgers University
- Shippensburg University
- Temple University
- University of Maryland
- University of New Hampshire
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Southern Indiana
- West Chester University
- Widener University
96% of the Class of 2022 respondents were employed or in graduate school within 6-9 months of graduation.
Our Alumni
Regional and national employers seek out Messiah graduates for their academic preparation, work ethic and personal character. The transformation you experience at Messiah readies you to transform the lives of others through your chosen career path.
Classroom learning and practical experience as a social worker
The BSW degree program balances classroom learning with practical experience. We place a strong emphasis on field education. You finish the major with a minimum of 600 field hours with three social service agencies. In your senior year alone, you complete 400+ hours of social work practice. Our goal for you is to develop as a social worker who can engage the world and facilitate change through enhancing community and actively participating in issues to address social and economic justice in rural, urban and international settings.
Messiah's social work students complete service at regional senior care communities, adoption and foster care agencies, crisis treatment centers, legal aid organizations, children and youth services, mental health services, prisons and correctional centers, hospice agencies, school districts, intermediate units, domestic violence and rape crisis centers and agencies that serve the homeless population.
Messiah's unique approach to hands-on learning
Learning in the classroom is important but actually applying that knowledge in a hands-on way can make all the difference. At Messiah University, the Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) allows Messiah to take this hands-on learning to a new level by giving students the opportunity to apply what they have learned to various real world contexts--such as an internship/practica, service learning, off-campus program, holding a student leadership position, or participating in undergraduate research.
Faith integration
Faith integration is not an add-on to Messiah's social work program. Spiritual competency is embedded in every course, integrating principles of Christian faith with the six core values of social work as established by the National Association of Social Work (NASW). This sets Messiah’s social work program apart, even from other faith-based institutions.