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Bachelor of Social Work Online: Curriculum

Curriculum Details

120 total credits required

Greenville University’s online Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) features a curriculum designed to prepare students for initial direct social work positions as well as graduate study. Graduates meet requirements to sit for the Licensed Social Worker (LSW) exam and pursue licensure in all 50 states.

This program consists of 46 major credits and courses are eight or 16 weeks in duration. In addition to credits required for the major, you will need to complete general education and elective courses for a total of 120 credits. Up to 69 transfer credits may be accepted and most students complete the program in two years.

Greenville’s online BSW program is delivered in a flexible format and features an integrative learning approach that combines principles of social justice, criminal justice, and Christian values. Our practitioner-faculty are dedicated to positive student learning outcomes and will support you as you complete coursework, field experiences, and post-graduate or career preparation. Students receive personal attention throughout their program due to our small class sizes.

As a student, you will gain valuable practical experience by completing 400 hours of in-person fieldwork. You will also have the option to choose when and where you pursue practicum placement to maximize flexibility.

Greenville’s online BSW program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), so you can be confident you’re earning a degree that meets rigorous academic and professional standards.

Core Courses

This course introduces psychology as a science and emphasizes the interaction of social, cognitive, emotional, motivational, and organizational approaches to understanding human behavior. All students participate in a service learning experience in which they apply course concepts in real world situations and organizations. Discussions within this class include Christian perspectives on current issues in human behavior, cognition, and motivation.
This course will acquaint students with the major themes, theories and theorists in the field of human lifespan developmental psychology. Lifespan development is the scientific study of human development from conception to death. This course focuses on biological, cognitive, social, emotional, cultural, and religious aspects of human development, and aims to help students gain an understanding of human development across the lifespan.
Course content focuses upon basic concepts and operations in descriptive and inferential statistics. The areas of study will include measures of central tendency and dispersion, probability, correlation and regression analysis, parametric (t-tests and ANOVA) and non-parametric (chi-square) tests of significance. A basic introduction to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software is provided.
The nature, functions, and values of social work are explored. Social work is presented as a problem solving process with wide applicability in the arena of human services; thus, social work is studied within a wide spectrum of situations and institutions.
A study of problem formulation, data collection, and data analysis including primary and secondary data collection. Major assignments include research design, literature review, survey design and method selection.
A study of intimate relationships, marriage, family and contributing support systems. Includes historical overview and contemporary presentations. Emphasis is placed on multifactor understanding of relational/family health. Combines theoretical perspectives from sociology, psychology, anthropology and theology. Parenting, financial pressures, intra-family communication and family formation are examined.
Develops student awareness of practice contexts where social workers may be employed, including schools, military, corrections, hospital, mental health, addictions, and other settings.
This course prepares students for entering the practicum environment as a beginning social work practitioner. Covers specific domains of generalist social work practice: exploring, assessing, and planning, the change-oriented phase, and the termination and evaluation phase. Students will have an opportunity to work with simulation cases throughout the entire cycle of interventions. Cultural competence and work with specialized populations are emphasized throughout.
The study of a variety of social organizations and of the policies enacted or pursued related to mission, structure, and social-political environments. Governmental and non-governmental agencies in the areas of social work and criminal justices will be included. Using organizational theory and real-life models, students will engage in institutional problem solving exercises.
Each student must successfully complete a minimum practicum experience totaling ten to twelve semester hours, where 40 clock hours on location equals one hour of credit. Ideally, each practicum should be based at a social work agency or similar organization such as a school, church, health clinic, etc. which specializes in human services. Ideally an on-site supervisor with an MSW degree or LCSW license will supervise the student’s practicum.
A basic course introducing the student to the concepts, theories, and methods employed in an objective scientific analysis of society, culture, social institutions and organizations, social control, deviancy, and social factors involved in personality development.

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