All students in the BSSW Honors Program are eligible, but not required, to apply for conditional admission to the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program. Eligibility to apply for the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program is restricted to social work majors who have also been accepted into the BSSW Honor’s Program.
The process of seeking conditional admission to the Five-year BSSW/MSSW Program begins in the spring semester of the junior/third year of undergraduate study. Students seeking conditional admission to the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program must submit the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program Application Packet either in person or electronically to the BSSW Program Director or his/her designee by April 1st of their junior/third year of undergraduate study.
Additionally, in order to be considered for conditional admission students must:
- Have a minimum overall GPA of 3.5;
- Have completed or will have completed 60 hours of coursework which includes the following required social work courses: SOWK 200 , SOWK 250 *, SOWK 312 , SOWK 313 , SOWK 315 , SOWK 317 *, SOWK 318 , and SOWK 380 by the end of their junior/third year of undergraduate study; and
- Complete a personal interview with the BSSW Program Director or his/her designee. Personal interviews will typically occur after the April 1st BSSW/MSSW Program Application Packet deadline and before May 1st during the junior/third year of undergraduate study. Immediately following the personal interview, the BSSW Program Director or his/her designee will notify students, in writing, of their conditional admission status.
In the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program Application Packet, students will specify their preference for program location (Knoxville or Nashville campus or Online) and for the full-time or part-time (2 year) program. Students will also be asked to identify their preference for the Evidence-based Interpersonal Practice or Organizational Leadership specialization. Although the MSSW Admissions Committee will do its best to match students with their preferences, there is no guarantee a student will receive their preference once fully admitted.
Conditional admission to the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program does not guarantee admission into either the Graduate School or the MSSW program. Starting in October but NO LATER than December 1st of their senior/fourth year of undergraduate study, students must:
- Apply for admission to the Graduate School;
- Submit the MSSW professional statement (submitted online with application); and
- Submit three reference evaluation forms (submitted online with application):
- One reference shall be from the BSSW Program Director or his/her designee;
- One reference shall be from any previous or current social work field instructor, liaison, or coordinator affiliated with the UT College of Social Work BSSW Program; and
- One reference shall be from any previous or current faculty member or course instructor from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Students will be fully admitted to the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program only after they have been accepted by both the Graduate School and MSSW program. The College of Social Work will notify students of their official admission to the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW Program and Graduate School early in the spring semester of their senior/fourth year.
A candidate will be fully admitted if they:
- Maintained a minimum overall 3.5 GPA;
- Earned a B+ or higher in all required Social Work Field Practice courses (SOWK 380 , SOWK 480 , and SOWK 481 ) for the BSSW Program;
- Met all requirements for the BSSW Honor’s Program; and
- Met all degree requirements for the BSSW.
Upon graduation from the BSSW Program, the BSSW Program Director or his/her designee will provide written verification to the MSSW program that all admission requirements for the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW program have been met.
Once fully admitted, students are required to complete the summer semester and specialization year (Fall and Spring semesters) of the MSSW program. Graduate hours required for the Five-Year BSSW/MSSW program total 37 credit hours. Students who enroll in a 500-level course for undergraduate credit and applied to the BSSW degree, may not apply the course credit towards the MSSW degree. The requirements for the MSSW degree may be found in the Graduate Catalog in the College of Social Work section. Students are ineligible for graduate assistantships until they satisfy all requirements for the BSSW degree.
* Meets University General Education Requirement .
