Purpose/Justification
The University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work and the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston offer a concurrent degree program which enables students to prepare for careers in which knowledge and skills in both social work and business administration are critical. Examples of positions which would be enhanced by the dual degrees are public and non-profit agency administration, human services program planning and development, human services management consulting, organizational development consulting, and ownership of a private for-profit service agency. Through this program, students can finish both degrees over a shorter time than if each degree was pursued separately. This is achieved by allowing courses from one program to count as electives in the other program.
Required Semester Credit Hours
The joint MSW/MBA program requires a total of 75 semester credit hours. The degree can be completed in 3 - 4 years as a full-time student. The joint MSW/MBA program for advanced standing students requires a total of 64 semester credit hours. The degree for AS students can be completed in 2 - 3 years.
Up to 12 semester credit hours earned as part of the MBA program applies to the students’ MSW degree for full program students and 6 semester credit hours for Advanced Standing students.
Admission Requirements
Students entering the MSW/MBA concurrent degree program must apply and be admitted separately by both the Graduate College of Social Work and the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Applications for admission to this degree program will be accepted in compliance with the application deadlines for each school. Admission to one program has no bearing on admission to the other program. All students wishing to enter the MSW/MBA concurrent degree program must apply to the second program no later than the end of their first year.
Academic Requirements
The MSW program in the Graduate College of Social Work requires that students complete 51 semester credit hours (SCH) of masters level courses. MSW students must complete a 15 SCH foundation curriculum and then enter one of two concentrations - (1) Clinical Practice or (2) Macro Practice. Advanced standing MSW students are required to complete 34 semester credit hours (SCH) of masters level courses. They are also required to select one of two concentrations, Clinical Practice or Macro Practice. Students admitted to the concurrent MSW/MBA degree track may select either MSW concentration.
Students completing the MBA program must complete 48 hours of which 27 are core classes and 21 are electives.
For the dual degree program twelve (12) hours from MBA are applied toward 4 elective courses in the MSW Program; twelve (12) hours from MSW are applied toward elective courses for the MBA program. For the Advanced Standing dual degree program, six (6) hours from MBA are applied toward 2 elective courses in the MSW Program; twelve (12) hours from MSW are applied toward elective courses for the MBA program.
Curriculum Model
The first year of the concurrent degree program must be in one college or the other. The student may choose which college to begin the joint program. All MSW Foundation coursework (including credit for Generalist Practicum 1) must be completed prior to taking any advanced social work courses. After completion of the MSW Foundation coursework, MSW and MBA courses can be taken concurrently. Should the student not complete the requirements for the MBA degree, the Graduate College of Social Work will accept a maximum of 6 semester hours from the MBA. Likewise, should the student not complete the requirements for the MSW degree, the C.T Bauer College of Business will accept a maximum of 6 semester hours from the social work curriculum.
Graduation Requirements
To graduate with the concurrent degree, students must meet all academic, curricular and graduation requirements of both colleges. Until all these requirements have been met, no course credit from either college will be applied toward the degree in the other college. Students must file for graduation and pay all applicable filing fees to the University of Houston. When filing for graduation, students must state on their application that they are filing for both degrees in the same semester. Graduates will receive two diplomas.