College of Health and Human Services

Schools & Divisions

Division of Social Work
Bachelor of Social Work Curriculum
Educational Requirements

A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for the B.S.W. degree. In addition to social work courses and electives, the following outlines the general liberal arts requirements.  Of these 52 credit hours are social works courses and 52-53 credit hours are devoted to supportive liberal arts courses.

General education courses requirements vary by campus.  Students enrolled at the IU Northwest campus must meet the campus's general education requirements.  

General Education Requirements (9 courses)*

  1. English Composition (ENG W131 and ENG W231)
  2. Modern American History (HIST H106)
  3. Two courses designated as arts and humanities courses from the following departments:
    • African American Studies
    • Anthropology
    • Communication 
    • English (excluding the basic composition course)
    • Fine Arts
    • French (300 level and above)
    • History
    • Music (non-performance courses)
    • Philosophy
    • Religious Studies
    • Spanish (200 level and above)
    • Theatre
    • Women's Studies
  4. Human Biology 
    • One course in human biological sciences
  5. Computer Science (CSCI 106)
  6. Mathematics  (100 level or above)
  7. Physical Sciences  with a Lab (minimum of 4 credit hours)
  8. Statistics (SPEA 300, PSY K300, or SOCK260)

Supportive Area Requirements (6 courses)

  1. American Government  (POL Y103)
  2. Cultural Anthropology (ANTH  A104)
  3. Introductory Psychology (
  4. 300-level psychology course
  5. Introduction to Sociology (SOC  S161)
  6. Macro or Microeconomics, (ECON E103 of ECON E104) or Labor and Economy (LS 230)

*General Education Requirements vary by campus

Social Work Requirements (17 courses)

S102 Understanding Diversity in a Pluralistic Society (3 cr.)
S141 Introduction to Social Work (3 cr.)
S221 Growth and Human Development in the Social Environment (3 cr.)
S251 History and Analysis of Social Welfare Policy (3 cr.)
S322 Small Group Theory and Practice (3 cr.)
S331 Generalist Social Work Practice I: Theory and Skills (3 cr.)
S332 Generalist Social Work Practice II: Theory and Skills (3 cr.)
S371 Social Work Research (3 cr.)
S401 Integrative Social Work Practicum Seminar I (2 cr.)
S402 Integrative Social Work Practicum Seminar II (3 cr.)
S423 Organizational Theory and Practice (3 cr.)
S433 Community Behavior and Practice (3 cr.)
S442 Practice-Policy Seminar in Fields of Practice (3 cr.)
S472 Social Work Practice Evaluation (3 cr.)
S481 Social Work Practicum I (4 cr.)
S482 Social Work Practicum II (4 cr.)

Academic Bulletins

PDF Version

Click here for the PDF version.

IUN Bulletin

Click here to go to IUN Bulletin Homepage.