Category: Education & Field Training
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New York’s Missing BSW License: A Degree Without a Professional Home
August 2026 New York tells bachelor’s-level social-work graduates something unusually revealing about the profession. A BSW graduate may perform many social-work functions under supervision, but the state will not issue that graduate a social-work license. New York’s Office of the Professions recognizes only the Licensed Master Social Worker and the Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Its…
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The $20,500 MSW Financing Cliff Is Here—and Private Credit Is Becoming an Admissions Requirement
August 24, 2026 For students beginning graduate social work education this fall, July 1 changed the meaning of admission. The federal government eliminated new Grad PLUS borrowing and placed most graduate programs under an annual Direct Loan limit of $20,500 and an aggregate graduate limit of $100,000. Programs classified as “professional” receive much higher limits—$50,000…
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New York’s $4,500 Field-Practicum Bill Is a Start—not a Wage
August 23, 2026 A New York bill now before the Legislature would create a four-year paid field-practicum pilot for MSW students. Assembly Bill A9379B, amended June 1, would provide a $4,500 stipend for the first 450 hours of required practicum to students attending CSWE-accredited programs in the state. The arithmetic is clarifying: $4,500 divided by…
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The $20,500 MSW: Federal Loan Limits Are Forcing Social Work to Confront Its Price
August 2026 A student deciding whether to begin an MSW this fall is confronting a different financing system from the one that existed a year ago. Beginning July 1, 2026, new federal rules cap Direct Unsubsidized Loans for graduate students at $20,500 per year and $100,000 in the aggregate. Graduate PLUS loans, which previously allowed…