Jul 26, 2025  
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2024-25 
    
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2024-25 [Archived Catalog]

Pre-Social Work


Major code ND6603

College of Health Sciences and Professions  
Department of Social Work   
Morton Hall 416
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: 740.593.1269
www.ohio.edu/chsp/social-work (opens in a new window)

Warren Galbreath, contact person
galbreat@ohio.edu

Program Overview:

The Pre-Social Work program designates students who intend to declare the Bachelor of Social Work program major, but who have not yet satisfied the admissions requirements. The undergraduate program in social work prepares students for beginning generalist social work practice at the undergraduate level, which involves the capacity to apply knowledge, skills, and values to assess a range of situations and the ability to work with individuals, groups, larger organizations, and communities from a wide variety of perspectives.

Admissions Information

Freshman/First-Year Admission

Students may designate a “pre-social work” major (ND6603) within the College of Health Sciences and Professions in their application to Ohio University. There are no additional selective or limited admissions requirements to be admitted as a pre-social work major beyond those required by the University and the College of Health Sciences and Professions.

Change of Program Policy

Admission to the major is divided into two stages: pre-major and major. First year students may be admitted as pre-majors (ND6603) to work on first-year and sophomore-level requirements. To be admitted to the social work program as a major, all prospective students, including pre-majors, other Ohio University students, and transfer students from other institutions are required to submit a fully completed “Application for Major Status” online which includes a personal essay, documentation of human service experience to the link designated on the Social Work website by the Friday of the second week of fall or spring semester.

External Transfer Admission

For students applying to the College of Health Science and Professions as pre-majors, no requirements beyond University/College of Health Sciences and Professions admission requirements are necessary.

Opportunities Upon  Graduation 

Students will not graduate with the Pre-Social Work major code. Rather this pre-major code will designate students who intend to declare Bachelor of Social Work major but have not completed the admissions requirements.

Requirements

Students are required to have a minimum overall GPA of 2.5 as of the first summer session prior to entering the field in the upcoming fall semester. In addition, they must have completed the following:

  1. SW 1000 (opens in a new window)  and SW 2601C (opens in a new window)  with a minimum grade of C (2.0) in both courses
  2. BIOS 1030 (opens in a new window)  or BIOS 1300 (opens in a new window) PSY 1010 (opens in a new window) PSY 2110 (opens in a new window)  or PSY 1110 (opens in a new window)  or MATH 1500 (opens in a new window) , and PSY 2410 (opens in a new window)  or EDEC 1600 (opens in a new window) , as well as one course in any two of these areas: economics, political science, or sociology
  3. Written Communication (ENG 1510 (opens in a new window) ) and quantitative reasoning requirements
  4. At least two semesters of the foreign language requirement other than high school if desiring a BASW
  5. A paid or volunteer experience in the area of social work (20 hours). (Those that completed SW 2601C (opens in a new window)  at Ohio University will meet this requirement with the successful completion of the course. Those that have credit for SW 2601C (opens in a new window) through transfer will need to document 20 hours of volunteer experience.)