This blog covers 4 subjects across 9 posts, weighted towards programs. These are the questions that come up repeatedly and take more than a paragraph to answer properly.
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Edited by Zoe MacDougall, BS in Psychology
Editorial coverage of program changes, accreditation news, and workforce trends.
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9 posts
October 5, 2026
Nine in ten CSWE-accredited MSW programs offer a part-time plan of study, but far fewer teach evenings or weekends. How long a part-time MSW takes with and without advanced standing, where the programs are, how the 900-hour field placement fits around a job, and what the July 2026 federal loan changes mean for part-time students.
September 25, 2026
About a third of CSWE-accredited MSW programs offer a dual degree, and two pairings dominate: the MSW/MPH in public health and the MSW/JD in law, with business, public administration and divinity far behind. Every combination counted from the accreditation directory, where the programs are, what each pairing prepares you for, and why none of it changes how you get licensed.
September 4, 2026
CSWE requires at least 900 hours of field education in an accredited MSW, split between a generalist practicum and a specialized one. How the hours divide across the calendar, why advanced standing only does half of them, who arranges the placement, whether your own job can count, and how online programs handle a requirement that cannot be met remotely.
August 23, 2026
The difference between an LMSW and an LCSW is supervision. Both rest on the same CSWE-accredited MSW, but the LMSW is the master's-level license you can hold the year you graduate, while the LCSW is the independent clinical license earned afterwards, most often with 3,000 supervised hours. What each one permits, how the supervised-hour rules differ across all 51 US jurisdictions, and which one your plans actually require.
July 22, 2026
Whether to choose advanced standing or a traditional MSW turns on one thing: advanced standing finishes in about a year, and 94.6% of accredited programs offer it, so the real question is whether you qualify and whether the compressed pace suits you. A practical comparison on time, cost, field hours, eligibility, and what you give up by moving faster.
June 29, 2026
Macro and mezzo social work both operate beyond the individual client, and the difference between them is scale. Mezzo social work serves groups, organizations, and neighborhoods; macro social work changes whole communities, populations, and policy. A clear comparison with examples, careers, and how each maps to an MSW.
June 17, 2026
You can be a therapist with an MSW. A CSWE-accredited MSW plus clinical licensure (the LCSW) is one of the most common paths to becoming a licensed psychotherapist. Here is exactly how the path works, what you can do, and how it compares with counseling and psychology degrees.
June 12, 2026
How CSWE frames social, racial, economic, and environmental justice in MSW education, plus the CSWE-accredited programs that name a Social Justice concentration in the federal accreditation directory.
June 1, 2026
A step-by-step guide to California LCSW licensure: MSW requirements, BBS supervised hours, the ASWB Clinical exam, and the Law & Ethics exam.
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