Online Master of Social Work

Find a Meaningful Career in Social Work

Montclair’s online Master of Social Work degree program prepares graduates to provide social work practice and advocacy services to help individuals, families, groups, and communities. Our online MSW concentration in Children, Youth and Families is uniquely focused on supporting children and families within diverse groups and populations.

You will develop close relationships with peers and faculty as you acquire knowledge, values, and skills to engage in ethical, culturally-responsive and evidence-informed social work practice.

Apply for: Fall 2025
Program Length: 3 years
Course Format: Online, 7 and 14 week sessions
Credit Hours: 60

Upcoming Information Sessions

To learn more about Montclair Online programs, complete the form below and check your email for next steps.

Why Study Social Work Online at Montclair?

With our online social work degree, you will have the flexibility to balance your busy lives as you gain valuable skills in communication, critical thinking, empathy, ethical decision-making, and culturally-responsive assessment and intervention. You will also have the opportunity to customize your elective coursework to build additional competencies based on your interests. These courses include school social work, trauma-informed practice, forensic interviewing of children, and many more.

Pair Your MSW with a Graduate Certificate

Child Advocacy and Policy

Gain advanced knowledge of child advocacy and child protection with a particular focus on policy and practice issues relevant to vulnerable children and families.

Data Collection and Management

Build your skills in collecting and analyzing data, preparing reports, and presenting information graphically to impact policy and evaluation analysis.

Harm Reduction Approaches to Substance Use

Develop an understanding of harm reduction services and practical training on non-stigmatizing, social justice-oriented, and trauma-informed engagement strategies with people who use drugs.

What You Will Learn in an Online MSW Degree

In the Online MSW, you will develop strong knowledge and skills in social work practice including:

Hands-on experience in prevention and intervention methods designed to promote well-being
Methods to address societal issues, advocate for social justice, and influence social policy and practice
Practicum learning hours to connect online learning with supervised practice in a social work setting
Specialized training in serving the needs of children, youth and families to positively impact communities
Coursework applicable to New Jersey licensure for Social Worker, Clinical Social Worker, or certified School Social Worker

Sample CoursesAdmission Requirements

Explore Social Work Careers

An online Master of Social Work opens up various career paths with job titles such as mental health counselor, family therapist, agency supervisor or director, addictions counselor, healthcare social worker, school social worker, community organizer, and child and family advocate. Our MSW graduates have found success in a wide variety of settings, including mental health clinics, schools, hospitals, community centers, state and local government, private practice — and beyond.

Overall employment of social workers is projected to grow 7 percent from 2022 to 2032 – faster than the average for all occupations with about 63,800 openings for social workers projected each year, on average, over the decade. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Our Focus Is Your Success

Our MSW online program is designed with you in mind. Courses combine synchronous and asynchronous – which means you can work around your busy life – with opportunities to engage and collaborate with faculty and classmates. Montclair’s small classes allow for individualized attention every step of the program. Experienced practicum instructors and liaisons will work closely with you to guide your placement experience. Our faculty are dedicated to supporting the success of our students with strong partnerships with agencies throughout the state of New Jersey. Combining convenience with personalized support, you can make a difference with your degree, your career and your success.

Meet the MSW Faculty

MSW Practicum

Practicum education is an integral part of graduate social work education, providing a unique opportunity for students to integrate classroom learning with a supervised practice experience in various social work settings. Online MSW students complete two practicum experiences. The first practicum is 15 hours per week for a total of 420 hours. The second practicum is 21 hours per week for a total of 580 hours. Students can expect to complete practicum hours during daytime, business hours from Monday to Friday. Practicum placements will occur on-site, where students will have the opportunity to interact with diverse populations and implement direct practice skills.

Students will have the opportunity to complete their practicum placements at a wide range of settings including but not limited to mental health centers, non-profit agencies, school settings, hospitals and much more. Students employed in a social service setting may also apply for an employment based practicum placement, which provides a unique opportunity to complete practicum requirements at your current source of employment.

Admission Requirements

How to Apply

Submit Online Application
Transcript: One from each college attended
Letters of Recommendation: Two
Personal Essay
Standardized Test Scores:
No GRE required
Apply by: May 15

Personal Essay Prompt

Who you are: As a social worker, you form relationships with others as part of the helping process. These relationships are the foundation upon which you provide clinical services and advocate for justice. It is imperative that you know yourself and be able to communicate with others.
- Tell us about who you are and how you identify yourself.
- Share a time that you felt you were privileged and a time when you felt oppressed.
Social work as your career goal
- The Montclair State University MSW program educates students to engage in anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice. Name two ways that you have stepped outside of your comfort zone when advocating for populations different than yourself.
- The Montclair State University MSW program educates students to advocate for and to engage in clinical social work practice with children, youth, and families. Why is this program the best fit for you and your career goals?
Your experience as a student: Academic requirements for MSW students require you to read textbooks and articles and to synthesize material from multiple sources into content for papers, presentations, and skills demonstrations. This is different from the level of preparation you needed to have as an undergraduate student.
- How will you ensure that you succeed academically in the MSW program?
  - What is your previous experience with online learning?
  - How did you perform in online learning?
  - Name an academic challenge that you experienced and explain how you overcame it or what you would do differently in graduate school.
  - If your overall undergraduate GPA is below a 3.0, please explain what happened and what you will do differently in graduate school.
Your time commitments: The program is academically rigorous, emotionally challenging, and time consuming because we are preparing you to work with people who are depending on you to be an ethical, competent, culturally sensitive, and responsive social worker. You should plan to spend at least 3 hours per week on each course in addition to your other responsibilities. Courses in the online MSW program are offered every seven weeks all year long. You will take one or two courses during each seven week period. The online program is designed to be completed in three years.
- You will complete two practicum experiences during the program, almost all of them require you to be in person at a social service agency. You must have weekday availability for 15 hours across two-three days to complete your first practicum experience and 21 hours across three-four days to complete your second practicum experience. There are very few evening and weekend practicum placements.
  - How do you plan to manage your time and commitments to successfully complete the program?
  - If you are expecting to be employed while in the program, how will you ensure that you have weekday availability for 15 hours across two-three days to complete your first practicum experience and 21 hours across three-four days to complete your second practicum experience?

Apply

About the Social Work and Child Advocacy Department

The Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy at Montclair State University is a community of interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners who prepare undergraduate and graduate students to be leaders in the promotion of child and family wellbeing. Guided by the principles of social, economic, and racial justice, we combine the fields of psychology, social work, and law to improve lives at every stage of human development. Through our scholarship we create knowledge that, when combined with our practice approaches, advance child advocacy and social work initiatives to serve the wider community. Our interdisciplinary curriculum equips graduates with the requisite knowledge and skills required in their professions including an understanding of policies and systems, human development, and evidence-based and culturally-sensitive practices. The department also offers an on campus MSW program which is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.

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Contact Us

For more information, please contact Montclair Online.
Email: online@montclair.edu
Phone: 973-655-7110

Graduate Program Coordinator: Dr. Lynette Reitz

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