California State University Northridge Master of Social Work

Advising Information
College of the Canyons and CSUN

Why Master of Social Work?

The MSW program prepares practitioners to address
social services needs in the Greater Los Angeles and
Southern California regions and enhance social services
for people in urban environments. The program uses a
strengths‐based, community‐oriented, urban family
practice model that promotes social justice, with
sensitivity to the multicultural population.
The program prepares graduates to work with a variety
of client systems and is grounded in a framework to
promote the well‐being of urban families and
communities. The curriculum incorporates the
profession's history, purposes and philosophy. It
emphasizes critical and creative thinking that enables
graduates to initiate, adapt and evaluate interventions
for urban families while remaining alert to relevant
national and global issues. The program trains
professionals to practice ethically and competently, and
to integrate knowledge, process and values into
professional social work practice.
The MSW program is accredited by the Council on
Social Work Education (CSWE).
 

Contact Information

 

The Tseng College
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff St.
Northridge, CA 91330
For more information call:
818 – 677‐ 3332

 

Admissions Requirements 

Applicants are considered for admission to CSUN
when they meet both university and individual
department eligibility requirements.
To be considered for admission to CSUN as a graduate
student in a master's program, applicants must meet
the following requirements:
Have a four‐year baccalaureate degree from a
regionally accredited institution;
 Be in good academic standing at the last
college or university attended; and
 Have satisfied one of the following conditions:
 Attained a grade point average (GPA)
of at least 2.5 in a baccalaureate
degree program,
 Attained a GPA of at least 2.5 in the
last 60 semester (90 quarter) units
attempted, or
 Hold a post‐baccalaureate degree
earned at a regionally accredited
institution and 2.5 GPA in either the
undergraduate cumulative GPA or the
last 60 units.
Competitive candidates to the Master of Social Work
program will:
 Have earned a baccalaureate degree in
Sociology, Psychology, the liberal arts or
similar program, with an overall GPA of 3.0 or
better;
 Have post‐baccalaureate work experience
(academic credit cannot be given for prior life
and work experience); and
Demonstrate evidence of personal maturity,
including the ability to withstand difficult
emotional challenges, a commitment to
interpersonal processing within the
parameters of cultural expectations, respect
for others and for their life decisions, a
readiness to learn advanced clinical and macro
practice and research skills, a commitment to
social justice and to the profession's Code of
Ethics, and a capacity for flexibility and
creativity