Master of Social Work Shorelight Group - St. Catherine University, USA

In the MSW program at St. Catherine University, we encourage you to be curious, engage in tough conversations, and advance human and social justice rights.  We support our students to be divergent thinkers and to question the status quo.

Advanced Standing (AS) options are available for students with CSWE-accredited bachelor’s degrees in social work; Regular Standing (RS) options are available for all other students. Our MSW students are placed in more than 200 fieldwork settings at leading regional social work employers and gain valuable hands-on clinical experience – 600 clinical fieldwork hours for AS students, and 1000 hours for RS students (400 foundational and 600 clinical).

As a clinical social worker, you'll join the largest group of mental health service providers in the nation and meet the needs of your clients by:

    Gaining clinical skills to empower individuals, small groups, and families, as well as a range of age groups - from children to adolescents and older adults
    Advocating on issues of poverty, discrimination, mental illness, developmental disabilities, and addressing systems of oppression
    Serving immigrants and refugees, persons with disabilities, and those who have experienced trauma
    Understanding the role of grief and loss, and facilitating healing for diverse populations
    Becoming aware of the larger contexts of clinical care: agency-level policy, supervision, and macro-level systems of change
    Reflecting deeply on your own assumptions, how they intersect with others, and learning to appreciate a variety of spiritual perspectives

In addition to course work, St. Kate's has partnered with agencies that serve diverse and underrepresented communities through our Clinical Social Work Expansion Project (CSWEP) grant funded by the Minnesota Department of Health.  These agencies host students during their fieldwork experiences, and the grant helps offset some of the tuition expenses.

A dual-degree option with our Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies (MAHS) program is also available for students seeking to integrate holistic healing practices into clinical social work. To enroll, students apply as dual-degree MSW and MAHS students. Once accepted, students develop a plan for completing both degrees with the support of an advisor from each program. Upon completion, students are awarded two master's degrees.

Prepare to use your knowledge, values, and skills to demonstrate the intrinsic value of all humankind in a unified purpose to serve those in need and promote social justice and human rights. This program is open to students of all genders.