As a Lesley MSW student, you’ll join a close-knit cohort, forming relationships with your peers as you move through the program together. Small class sizes and extensive faculty mentorship give you and your classmates the opportunity to collaborate, learn from, and support one another. As an MSW student, you can pursue coursework and electives across Lesley’s other academic focus areas, such as Education, Art and Design, and Liberal Arts and Business.
Social Work
Master’s in Social Work At-a-Glance
Credit details
- 60 credits
- 27 Core Counseling Credits
- 24 Experiential Credits
- 9 Elective Credits
Program details
- Program begins in fall
- Program duration typically six semesters including summers
- Earn an advanced generalist degree, with opportunities to specialize based on internship experiences, electives, and coursework across other Lesley graduate programs
A Personalized Approach to Serving Vulnerable Communities
Lesley’s Master of Social Work (MSW) is a highly personalized, interdisciplinary program that prepares graduates to lead with empathy, passion, and purpose. As an MSW student, you’ll train alongside peers and faculty in a close cohort, and engage in rigorous training through two immersive internships totaling 1,000 hours of in-field training. The program is particularly geared toward preparing students to work effectively with neurodiverse communities, providing the skills and knowledge necessary to support and advocate for individuals with diverse needs. You can choose to work closely with students in Lesley’s Threshold Program, underscoring our commitment to training clinicians able to support neurodiverse populations. Lastly, candidates can join our Scholar Partner Program for immersive training, with guaranteed internships upon acceptance that offer valuable hands-on experience in your chosen field. You’ll graduate prepared to thrive in a variety of roles and settings, including clinical practice, community-based organizations, advocacy, and more.
The Lesley Difference
A Distinctive Approach to Practical Learning
Through our Scholar Partner Program, you’ll work alongside these same peers during multiple internships and practicums with some of the area's leading mental health organizations. These internships, many awarded at the time of acceptance to Lesley, help you contextualize what you’re learning in the classroom, allow you to explore different career paths within the social work field, and provide you crucial real-world field experience.
As part of your studies, you’ll also have the option to work with students in our Threshold Programs, either through our Scholar Partner Program or as a graduate assistant. By supporting neurodiverse students living and working on the Lesley campus, you’ll gain a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities inherent in serving this population, and you'll build the skills and experience that allow you to empower their growth, social development, and independence.