Social justice is the guiding mission of our MSW Program—and has been for over 100 years. Included in this history is landmark attention to racism as a core component of our curriculum, beginning over 50 years ago.

We value small classes and human relationships—relationships between students and instructors, as well as relationships between social workers and clients, and many more.

You will be seen, heard, valued, and known here.

Penn MSW students inspire daily with their deep thinking, feeling, and acting related to social change.

The pursuit of social justice, whether you engage in macro- or micro-level social work, is one of life’s most important missions as it reaches far across many domains—physical and mental health, child welfare, substance use, criminal justice system involvement, education, basic human needs, housing, employment, economic security, quality of life, and others.

We embrace diverse identities, perspectives, and life experiences among all of the people involved in our program, including students, instructors, agency- and SP2-based staff, clients, and community members.

We aim to equip students with essential knowledge and skills to support their efforts to become effective, empathic social workers who recognize and are prepared to respond to the multilevel complexity of people in their environments.

We have a profoundly dedicated team of faculty, staff, field liaisons, and agency-based field instructors. Among this team are highly experienced social workers, researchers, and allied professionals who are leaders in their fields.

Innovative research conducted by SP2 faculty informs our MSW Program, as well as practice and policy in a wide range of fields, including health, mental health, substance use, gerontology, child welfare, housing, criminal justice, employment, violence, education, and many others.

Philadelphia is an outstanding place to learn to be a social worker. It’s a city with innovative social service programs aiming to address complex social concerns.

There are opportunities to take classes across the University of Pennsylvania campus, including in the Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership and Social Policy programs within the School of Social Policy & Practice, and to pursue dual degree and certificate programs.

Our alumni facilitate high-impact social change every day as direct practitioners, supervisors, agency directors, advocates, policy analysts, researchers, and numerous other roles.

More than 90% of students apply for and receive financial assistance to pursue their MSW education.

Our MSW Program is ranked in the top 11 social work programs in the U.S. We hope you’ll join us as leaders on the path toward a world of greater equality and well-being for all individuals, families, and communities.

We’d be delighted to hear from you! Please contact the Admissions Office at apply@sp2.upenn.edu.

In shared pursuit of social justice,

Malitta Engstrom, PhD, LCSW
MSW Program Faculty Director