BSW Courses @ School of Social Work | University of Missouri

The Professional BSW Program is based on a broad liberal arts foundation that covers seven areas.

- Prerequisite course for the Professional BSW Program (Must be completed prior to beginning BSW Core Courses).
- Graduation requirement
- BSW Professional Courses

English Composition (3 hours)

Grade must be in the "C" range or better.

• English 1000

Writing Intensive Classes (6 hours)

After completing English 1000, two more courses in the student's program must be designated "Writing Intensive" by MU. Students accepted into the Professional BSW Program must take SW 2220 Human Behavior and the Social Environment and SW 4951 Research for Social Work I, both designated WI. No additional WI courses are necessary for Social Work students.

Humanities (9 hours)

• Philosophy (1000, 1100 or 1200 are recommended) with grade in the "C" range or better.
• Communications 1200
• Three additional credit hours of humanities - NOTE: One course in Humanities or Biological, Physical or Mathematical Sciences must be at the 2000 level or higher.

Humanities include art and music history and appreciation classes, classical studies courses, foreign civilization courses, literature courses in English or other languages, and religious studies courses. Applied art and music performance courses do not count toward the humanities requirement. Students are urged to check for approved courses on the MU General Education Distribution page. BSW students who take SW 4310 Social Statistics will meet the General Education Distribution of Content upper-level (2000+) requirement in mathematical science and can choose a lower-level humanities course from the list above.

Biological, Physical and Mathematical Science (9 hours)

• Human Biology (generally Biology 1010) with grade in the "C" range or better.
• Physical science or mathematical science: A list of approved science courses can be found on the MU General Education Distribution website. An approved statistics course counts as mathematical science for social work students.
• Lab: at least one of the science courses must have a lab.

NOTE: One course in Humanities or Biological, Physical or Mathematical Sciences must be at the 2000 level or higher. BSW students who take Biology 1010 (lecture), Biology 1020 (lab) and Social Work 4310 (Social Statistics) will need just 1 additional hour of any approved science to complete the science requirement; and will meet the General Education Distribution of Content upper-level requirement (2000+) in a course outside the major area.

College Algebra and Math Reasoning Proficiency (MRP) (6 hours)

• College Algebra, Math 1100 or a higher level math course with grade in the "C" range or better.

• Students with a math ACT score of 28 or above are exempt from College Algebra.
• Students may elect to take the Proctored ALEKS Exam to receive course credit for Math 1100.

• Approved statistics class with grade in the "C" range or better

After completing Math 1110 or 1120, all students must take an approved statistics course that counts as the Math Reasoning Proficiency Requirement. SW 4310 is the recommended course for social work students. (Statistics 1200, 1300 and ECP 4170 are also approved for social work students at MU and may be taken in lieu of SW 4310. Students who take a lower level stat course will need to insure that they take a 2000 level or higher course in another approved distribution of content area, ie, Humanities.)

Social Science (12 hours)

• Economics (student’s choice) with a minimum grade in the "C" range
• Anthropology (student’s choice)
• History *
• Political Science

* Either the history or political science course must meet the state-mandated American History or Government requirement. This may be satisfied by Political Science 1100, 1700, or 2100 or History 1100, 1200, 1400, 2440, 2210. The other course is the student's choice.

Behavioral Science (15 hours)

• Sociology 1000 with a minimum grade in the "C" range
• Psychology 1000 with a minimum grade in the "C" range
• Personality Theory (SW 3320 or Psychology 4310)
• Social Psychology (Sociology 3310 or Psychology 2310)
• Human Behavior in the Social Environment (SW 2220 - Writing Intensive except in the summer session).

Cultural, Ethnic, & Racial Diversity (6 hours)

Two courses must be taken that reflect the cultural diversity of our society. Courses are selected in conjunction with an advisor, from certain offerings in Anthropology, Asian Studies, Black Studies,Chinese, English, French,History, Human Development and Family Studies, Italian,Japanese, Korean, Peace Studies, Psychology, Religious Studies, Rural Sociology, Russian, Spanish, Social Work, Sociology, Therapy, Women's and Gender Studies. A list of courses that can count as cultural diversity credit can be found below or on the BSW Student Blackboard site.

• ANTHRO 1350, 1300, 2030, 3700
• BL STU (any)
• CHINESE 2310
• ED & COUNS PSY 3085, 4087
• ENGLSH 2400, 2180, 2770, 3420, 3180, 4420, 4480, 4120, 4181, 4400, 4770
• FRENCH 2310
• GERMAN 2310, 2320, 2470, 2480
• HDFS 2300, 4300, 4670
• HIST 1410, 1520, 1580, 1610, 1800, 1810, 1830, 1820, 2400, 3200, 3800
• ITAL 2310
• JAPANESE 2310, 2320
• KOREAN 2310, 2320
• PEA ST 1150, 2410
• Psych 4815, 4825
• REL ST (any)
• RU SOC 1150
• RUSS 2310, 2320, 2330, 2540, 2550
• S ASIAN ST 1152, 2100, 3200, 3240, 3245, 4300
• SOC WK 2000, 4360, 4380, 4455
• SOCIOL 1360, 2200, 2230, 2210, 2310, 3320, 3450, 4220
• SPAN 2310, 2330, 3400
• THEATRE 4240
• WGST (any except 1100)

New courses are developed on a regular basis; be sure to check with your advisor.

Electives (20+ hours)

120 credit hours are required to graduate with the BSW degree. In addition to the liberal arts and the 49 hour professional BSW courses (inclusive of SW 2220 and SW 4310), students select electives to fulfill the credit hour requirement. The following social work electives are strongly recommended.

• Social Work 1115- Social Welfare and Social Work
• Social Work 1110- Introduction to the Social Work Major
• Social Work 2000- Exploration in Social & Economic Justice (WI)

Please note that no more than four hours may be taken from "skills" courses to count toward the 120 hours. More skill classes may be taken, but will be in excess of the 120 hours. Examples of skills courses are P.E., applied art, music performance, computer skills, self defense, and first aid.

All Professional BSW Core Courses require admission to the program except SW 2220-Human Behavior and the Environment. Professional BSW Core Courses are sequenced over three semesters and must be taken in the proper order. The only variation is the upper division elective in social work which may be taken at any time.

First Semester Professional Program—Fall

• SW 2220 Human Behavior & the Environment (WI) (if not already completed) (3)
• SW 4710 Social Justice and Social Policy (3)
• SW 4730 Introduction to Social Work Practice (3)
• SW 4750 Interaction Skills Workshop (3)
• SW 4310 Social Statistics (if not already completed)  (4)
• Social Work Field of Practice elective* (if not already taken; can be taken later if necessary) (3)

Second Semester Professional Program—Spring

• SW 4720 Variations in Human Behavior (3)
• SW 4740 Introduction to Community and Organizational Processes (4)
• SW 4760 Theory and Practice of Social Group Work (3)
• SW 4711 Social Justice and Social Policy II (3)
• SW 4951 Research Methods for Social Work I (WI)

Third Semester Professional Program—Fall

• SW 4770 Strategies of Direct Practice (3)
• SW 4952 Research Methods for Social Work II (3)
• SW 4970 Senior Professional Seminar (3)
• SW 4971 Undergraduate Field Practicum (6)

* Field of Practice Elective Options:
SW 4330 Addiction Treatment and Prevention
SW 4101 Helping Strategies with Older Adults
SW 4330 Addiction Treatment and Prevention
SW 4360 Working with Minority Youth
SW 4370 Delinquency, Corrections & Social Treatment
SW 4380 Social Work Practice with Minorities
SW 4390 Helping Strategies with Children and Adolescents
SW 4400 Domestic Violence
SW 4410 Law & Social Work Practice
SW 4430 Latino/a Immigrants and Receiving Communities
SW 4450 Introduction to Child Welfare