Social Work Degree

Uplift families, empower individuals, and heal communities with Champlain's Social Work Degree.

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Program Type: Major (BSW)

School/Division: School of Social Innovation

Required Experiences: On-Campus Employment Opportunities; Internships; Study Abroad

Let us help you find...: Admissions; Assessment of Learning Outcomes; Current Students College Catalog; Related Majors

Transform Lives and Build Communities With In-Demand Professional Skills

Today’s social service agencies, healthcare systems, and community organizations are actively seeking qualified professionals who can address complex societal challenges.

At Champlain, you’ll start building practical skills your first semester and graduate with over 400 hours of direct field experience—plus the CSWE accreditation employers recognize and respect.

What is Social Work?

Turn Your Passion for Helping Into Professional Impact

Social work professionals create positive change at all levels—from supporting individuals through personal challenges to developing community-wide solutions that address systemic issues.

This dynamic, growing field offers diverse career paths in mental health, healthcare, child welfare, substance abuse treatment, community development, and advocacy. At Champlain, you’ll gain the practical skills and ethical framework to make an immediate difference in people’s lives while building a rewarding, sustainable career.
Why Study Social work at Champlain College?
Experience the Champlain Advantage

At Champlain, our Upside-Down Curriculum puts you in social work courses immediately—no waiting two years to start building professional skills. You’ll benefit from:
- Small classes taught by licensed social work professionals with current field experience
- A social justice framework that employers recognize and value
- Multiple field experiences beginning in your first year
- A supportive campus community that mirrors the collaborative nature of professional social work
- Personalized guidance from faculty who know your name and career goals
Our Burlington location provides direct access to social service agencies, healthcare facilities, and community organizations where you’ll build professional connections and gain practical experience that employers value.
What Will I Learn Studying Social Work?
By the time you graduate, you will:
- Apply professional social work practices to help clients navigate complex personal and social challenges
- Develop assessment and intervention strategies that address needs across diverse populations
- Master case management techniques used by today’s leading social service agencies
- Create and implement community-based solutions for systemic social issues
- Build a professional portfolio demonstrating your ability to work effectively with individuals, families, groups, and organizations
Our Mission Statement

Grounded in a social justice framework, the mission of the BSW social work program at Champlain College is to prepare students to be generalist social workers who will effectively utilize assessment, engagement, intervention and evaluation skills to collaboratively serve people and communities to address complex challenges related to resources, opportunities and rights. Students’ practices will be firmly rooted in theoretical frameworks, an understanding of human behavior and development, established best practices, sound ethical decision making frameworks and policy practice skills. The BSW Program prepares students to be ready to serve as advocates and leaders to promote community well-being by respecting and celebrating human diversity, engaging in scientifically sound best practices and engaging in professional practice which is anti-oppressive, anti-racist and empowerment focused. The program prepares students to integrate systems thinking, ecological and empowerment, strengths and intersectionality perspectives to navigate the pathways between social policy, social, economic and environmental justice to serve people and communities in rural and urban communities locally, nationally and globally.

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Council on Social Work Education logo

Accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)

Different by Design

Accelerated Master’s Pathway

Our CSWE-accredited program creates a direct pathway to advanced standing in MSW programs—complete your master’s degree in just one year instead of two, saving valuable time and tuition costs.

Real-World Practice Environment

Burlington’s progressive community provides the perfect learning laboratory for developing professional skills in agencies addressing today’s most pressing social challenges.

Immediate Hands-On Experience

You’ll apply classroom concepts in real-world settings throughout your education, building professional connections and workplace-ready skills long before graduation.

Facts & Stats

100%

of Social Work majors in the Class of 2024 achieved career success within six months after graduation.

Projected growth of overall employment of social work professionals 2023 to 2033, faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sample Courses in the Social Work Degree

Our curriculum blends theoretical knowledge with practical application, preparing you for immediate career success. You’ll take courses in:

SWK 250 Introduction to Antiracist Practice

SWK 305 Social Justice: Oppression and Empowerment

SWK 470 Global Social Action

SWK 420 Trauma and Resilience Families

See the Learning Outcomes for the Social Work major

View Full Curriculum

This course prepares students to engage in anti-racist professional practice across multiple settings. Students are introduced to the fundamentals of anti-racist theory, concepts, and practice. This course also examines the manifestations of systemic oppression, white supremacy, and anti-black racism in American culture. Moving from conceptualization to practice throughout the course, students learn to engage in anti-racist practice through direct action.

Prerequisites	Complete 25 credits.
Credits	3

Students explore the origins and dynamics of discrimination and prejudice against certain racial, ethnic, age, and sexual orientation groups in American society and how power, influence, economic status and social policy contribute to and reinforce oppression against such groups. Such information will form the basis for understanding one’s own values, attitudes and beliefs about others. The course will also explore our changing population and celebrate the contributions and uniqueness that diversity brings to American social order.

Prerequisites	Complete 45 credits before taking this course.
Credits	3

With a focus on international awareness, students will optimize their field experience abroad by developing an understanding of the respective cultural, community, economic, social, and political forces that impact on their interactions with professionals, clients, and community members in the local environment. In addition to incorporating the core concepts of social work practice, students will use the international arena to integrate into their field experience the values and ethics of the profession as it is practiced in their host society, the relevant social issues and policies of the region, and the cultural forces of the surrounding community.

Prerequisites	Take SWK-300
Credits	3

Students focus on such social work perspectives as ecological, family systems and strengths-based models of social work practice with families in the context of trauma and resilience. They combine this information with human development, familial trends, and ethical considerations to develop trauma informed and culturally sensitive practice strategies to enhance resilience.

Prerequisites	Take SWK-310 & SWK-315 or permission of instructor
Credits	1

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Accelerated Masters Degree in Social Work (MSW)

Through our CSWE-accredited Social Work program, you may apply to a Master of Social Work (MSW) program that will allow you to earn a master’s degree in one year instead of two. If accepted, you will save a year of graduate tuition costs.

Social Work

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More Inside Social Work Degree

Overview

Uplift families, empower individuals, and heal communities with Champlain's Social Work Degree.
Curriculum

Gain real-world experience with Champlain's Upside Down Curriculum.
Faculty

Learn more about the experienced professionals leading Champlain College's social work program who are dedicated to teaching and mentoring you.
Learning Outcomes

Learn to educate, support, and inspire individuals, families, and communities with Champlain's Social Work major.

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Social Work Degree