The Department of Social Work offers the Bachelor of Social Work degree, preparing and developing generalist social workers for culturally competent, transformative practice that promotes equity, social justice and well-being within a local-global context.
Bachelor of Social Work
A Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.) degree will equip students for immediate professional practice and effective service delivery with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in a wide range of health and human service practice settings. Once accreditation for the program is finalized, students will be eligible to apply for state licensure and be prepared to pursue graduate social work (M.S.W.) studies.
Any admitted UT San Antonio students may select social work as their major. After completing requirements, usually by the third year, B.S.W. majors must apply to the Practice Sequence.
B.S.W. majors in the practice sequence take upper-level social work courses in their third and fourth years, and complete a supervised field placement during their final year. Applications are open once per year, during the spring semester for admission in the following fall.
B.S.W. Practice Sequence Application Requirements
Students formally admitted to the B.S.W. Practice Sequence will be eligible to continue on to take upper-division Social Work Core Curriculum courses.
To be formally admitted to the B.S.W. Practice Sequence, students must, at minimum, meet the following criteria:
- Complete at least 42 semester credit hours of coursework, including the majority of the Texas Core Curriculum
- Have an overall cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)
- Complete each of the following courses with a "C-" or better: SWK 1013 , SWK 2013 *, and STA 1053
- Attend a B.S.W. Program Information Session
- Submit a completed application for admission to the UT San Antonio B.S.W. program
- Submit two Professional or Academic References
- Submit a Résumé
Applications will be evaluated by the B.S.W. Committee using a standard evaluation rubric to determine admission status. Students are notified of their admissions decision via email from the B.S.W. Program Director or their designee. A social work major not accepted to the formal B.S.W. Practice Sequence may apply a second time at the next available opportunity. If they are not accepted after the second attempt, they will be required to change their major.
Core Curriculum Requirements (42 semester credit hours)
Students seeking the Bachelor’s of Social Work must fulfill University Core Curriculum requirements in the same manner as other students. The courses listed below will satisfy both degree requirements and Core Curriculum requirements; however, if these courses are taken to satisfy both requirements, students may need to take additional courses to meet the minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree.
SWK 1013 Introduction to Social Work should be used to satisfy the core requirement in Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Introductory Course requirement.
STA 1053 Basic Statistics should be used to satisfy the core requirement in Mathematics and the Statistics course requirement.
The courses AAS 2113, GLA 1013, HUM 2093, MAS 2013, PHI 1043, PHI 2123, WGSS 2013, or WGSS 2023 may be used to fulfill both the Language, Philosophy and Culture core curriculum component area and as a major requirement.
The courses ANT 2053, BBL 2003, HTH 2413, or REGS 2003 may be used to fulfill both the Social and Behavioral Sciences core curriculum component area and as a major requirement.
Any core curriculum course taken to fulfill a major requirement that has not already been applied to a core curriculum component area may also apply to the core curriculum Component Area Option.
Click here to view the list of all Core Curriculum Component Area Requirements.
Gateway Course
Students pursuing the Bachelor of Social Work must successfully complete the following Gateway Course with a grade of "C-" or better in no more than two attempts. A student who is unable to successfully complete this course within two attempts, including dropping the course with a grade of “W” or taking an equivalent course at another institution, will be required to change their major.
Course List | Code | Title | Credit Hours |
| SWK 1013 | Introduction to Social Work | 3 |
Degree Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Credit Hours |
| Basic Statistics (core and major) | |
| Introduction to Social Work (core and major) | |
| Diversity and Social Justice in San Antonio and Beyond * | |
| Social Welfare Policy Analysis | |
| Human Behavior and the Social Environment I | |
| Human Behavior and the Social Environment II | |
| Applied Social Work Research | |
| Ethics and Professionalism in Social Work | |
| Generalist Social Work Practice | |
| Practice Skills: Interviewing and Documentation | |
| Methods I | |
| Methods II | |
| Integrative Field Seminar I | |
| Integrative Field Seminar II | |
| Field Practicum I | |
| Field Practicum II | |
| |
| |
| African American Culture, Leadership and Social Issues (core or major) | |
| Special Topics in African American Studies | |
| Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (core or major) | |
| Native North Americans | |
| Language, Culture, and Society (core or major) | |
| Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice | |
| Gender and Crime | |
| Survey of Human Sexuality | |
| World Religions (core or major) | |
| Introduction to Chicana/x/o Studies (core or major) | |
| Issues in Health and Community | |
| Multicultural Psychology | |
| Psychology of Gender | |
| Intersectional Approaches to Social Justice (core or major) | |
| Race and Ethnic Relations | |
| Gerontology | |
| Sociology of the Mexican American Community | |
| Disability and Society | |
| Health Disparities | |
| Introduction to Women's Studies (core or major) | |
| Introduction to LGBTQ Studies (core or major) | |
| |
| |
| Global Sustainability | |
| Urban Sustainability in Global Context | |
| US in Global Context (core or major) | |
| Introduction to Global Politics | |
| International Human Rights | |
| Global Health | |
| Foundations of Civic Engagement | |
| Mexico: Development, Institutions and Policies | |
| Race and Ethnicity in Latin America | |
| Spanish for Healthcare Professionals I | |
| Theory and Practice of Interpreting | |
| Transnational Feminisms | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Media, Power, and Public Culture | |
| Applied Anthropology | |
| Criminological Theory | |
| Introduction to Courts and the Legal System | |
| Restorative Justice | |
| Pretrial Diversion and Problem-Solving Courts | |
| Introduction to Health Communication | |
| Organizational Communication | |
| Introduction to Leadership | |
| History of the Civil Rights Movement | |
| Introduction to Community and Public Health (core or major) | |
| Database Management in Community and Public Health | |
| Mexican Americans in the Southwest | |
| Si se puede! Latino Leadership, Activism and Organizing | |
| Nutrition in the Life Span | |
| Introduction to Nonprofit Agencies | |
| Civic Leadership Seminar | |
| Essential Skills for a Career in Public Service (Research Capstone) | |
| Critical Thinking (core or major) | |
| Contemporary Moral Issues (core or major) | |
| Ethics | |
| Social Psychology | |
| Experimental Psychology | |
| Motivation and Emotion | |
| Social Change and Development | |
| Poverty | |
| Sociological Theory | |
| |
| |
| Total Credit Hours | 78 |
Course Sequence Guides for Bachelor of Social Work
These course sequence guides are designed to assist students in completing the requirements for their UT San Antonio undergraduate Social Work degree. These are merely guides. Students must satisfy other requirements of this catalog and meet with their academic advisor for individualized degree plans. Progress within these guides depends upon such factors as course availability, individual student academic preparation, student time management, work obligations, and individual financial considerations. Students may choose to take courses during Summer terms to reduce course loads during long semesters.
Bachelor of Social Work – Four-Year Academic Plan
Plan of Study Grid | First Year |
|---|
| Fall |
|---|
| AIS 1273 | AIS: Social Sciences and Public Policy () | 3 |
| SWK 1013 | Introduction to Social Work () | 3 |
| WRC 1013 | Freshman Composition I () | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| Spring |
|---|
| STA 1053 | Basic Statistics () | 3 |
| WRC 1023 | Freshman Composition II () | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| Second Year |
|---|
| Fall |
|---|
| SWK 2013 | Diversity and Social Justice in San Antonio and Beyond * | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| Spring |
|---|
| SWK 2103 | Social Welfare Policy Analysis | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| Third Year |
|---|
| Fall |
|---|
| SWK 3013 | Human Behavior and the Social Environment I | 3 |
| SWK 3403 | Ethics and Professionalism in Social Work | 3 |
| SWK 3413 | Generalist Social Work Practice | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| Spring |
|---|
| SWK 3023 | Human Behavior and the Social Environment II | 3 |
| SWK 3203 | Applied Social Work Research | 3 |
| SWK 3423 | Practice Skills: Interviewing and Documentation | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| Fourth Year |
|---|
| Fall |
|---|
| SWK 4103 | Methods I | 3 |
| SWK 4203 | Integrative Field Seminar I | 3 |
| SWK 4303 | Field Practicum I | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| Spring |
|---|
| SWK 4113 | Methods II | 3 |
| SWK 4213 | Integrative Field Seminar II | 3 |
| SWK 4313 | Field Practicum II | 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| | Credit Hours | 15 |
| | Total Credit Hours | 120 |
