Earn your Master of Social Work (MSW) at UB
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Mental heath is health care — and social workers are the nation’s largest providers of mental health services. An MSW from the University at Buffalo will position you for success as you launch your counseling career.
As an MSW student at UB, you can:
- Learn how to create safe spaces and establish trust with clients — and ultimately become a trauma-informed social work practitioner — through a curriculum that’s grounded in trauma-informed and human rights perspectives
- Select from a wide variety of advanced year clinical courses to prepare you for your LCSW, including options like Crisis Interventions, Dual Disorders, Motivational Interviewing, Psychopathology, Trauma Theory and Treatment, Play Therapy, and EMDR
- Pursue your interest in addictions and apply your MSW coursework toward the requirements for the Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) certification
- Take advantage of our wide range of clinical practicum options to hone your counseling skills and build your professional network before you graduate
After earning their LCSW, UB alumni launch successful private practices or leverage their clinical skills to benefit clients in existing agencies. Where will your UB MSW take you?
- Ranked in the top 10% of CSWE-accredited programs by U.S. News & World Report
- SUNY flagship university
- Affordable tuition rates
- Infuses trauma-informed and human rights perspectives throughout the program
- Wide range of electives and advanced course topics, including clinical courses to prepare you to earn your LCSW
- Hundreds of practicum agency partners
- Competitive advanced year fellowship opportunities focused on children and families and aging populations
What’s the difference between social work and mental health counseling?
A Master of Social Work (MSW) is a broad degree that will provide you with a valuable, transferrable skill set. With an MSW, you will be prepared to provide direct counseling to individuals and work with wider populations in communities and agencies.
Mental health counseling is more narrowly focused on the individual. While clinical social workers can do everything mental health counselors can do, mental health counselors cannot do everything social workers can.
Because of this flexibility, a master’s degree in social work will provide you with the most career opportunities to make a positive difference.