Admissions

Our online Master of Science in Social Administration (MSSA) is designed for professionals eager to become leaders in their organizations and communities.

As a top-ranked^¹ school of social work, we maintain the same admissions standards for our online MSSA program as we do for our on-campus social work master's degree and intensive weekend social work master's degree programs. Admission is granted on a selective basis determined by the quality of the overall application and the individual’s demonstrated capacity to succeed in graduate-level education.

All applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
The undergraduate GPA must be 2.7 or above.
The GRE is not required.

In addition, each applicant must show evidence of the personal qualities and values essential to the professional practice of social work:

Strong moral character
Proven analytical and verbal skills
A caring and compassionate nature
A personal commitment to social justice; empowering individuals; and serving vulnerable and underrepresented groups, communities and organizations.

Our online program has three annual start dates, in January, April and August. Our admissions team accepts and reviews applications year-round. To ensure our online master’s in social work is even more accessible to people passionate about making a difference, there is no application fee.

Upcoming Cohorts

Traditional Track

Consisting of 60 credits, the traditional program track can be completed in as few as two and a half years. A Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree is not required to earn your MSSA degree on this program track.

Traditional Track Cohort Deadlines and Start Dates, Traditional Track
Cohort	Early Decision Application Deadline	Priority Application Deadline	Final Application Deadline	Classes Begin
Aug/Fall 2020	Friday, April 24, 2020	Friday, May 22, 2020	Friday, June 19, 2020	Monday, August 17, 2020
Jan/Spring 2021	Friday, September 11, 2020	Friday, October 9, 2020	Friday, November 6, 2020	Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Advanced Standing Track & Transfer Applicants

To qualify for the advanced standing program track and earn up to 24 credits toward your MSSA degree, you must hold a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree from a CSWE-accredited institution, earned within the last seven years. You can complete this program track in as few as two years.

Traditional Track Cohort Deadlines and Start Dates, Advanced Standing Track & Transfer Applicants
Cohort	Early Decision Application Deadline	Priority Application Deadline	Final Application Deadline	Classes Begin
Aug/Fall 2020	Closed	Friday, April 10, 2020	Friday, May 8, 2020	Monday, August 17, 2020
Jan/Spring 2021	Friday, July 31, 2020	Friday, August 28, 2020	Friday, September 25, 2020	Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Disability Resources

For information about how to request accommodations, students with disabilities should contact us via email at disability@case.edu or 216-368-5230. If you have already been admitted to Case Western Reserve University and have a CWRU Network ID and Password, please start by filling out a new student application on the Accessibility Information Management (AIM) system.

Please note that it can take up to two weeks to review accommodations requests. Approvals cannot be applied retroactively.

Take the Next Step

Become part of our community of change agents and join us on our mission to create a more just world.

^¹The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences was ranked No. 9 by U.S. News & World Report in 2019 Return to footnote reference


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