Social Work

Casework, assessment, advocacy and clinical practice across child welfare, health care, mental health, schools, corrections and policy — a CSWE-accredited degree and, for clinical practice, a Florida licence. ⚠⚠ Taught at 9 Florida public institutions, all universities, awarding 712 bachelor's and ⚠⚠⚠ 1,164 MASTER'S degrees — one of only two programmes on this site where the graduate degree outnumbers the undergraduate.

The degrees this program covers

⚠⚠ THE MASTER'S IS THE DEGREE, BECAUSE THE LICENCE REQUIRES IT. Section 491.005, F.S. gives clinical social work licensure to holders of a master's degree in social work from a school accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (or a doctorate), plus at least 2 years of post-master's clinical experience supervised by a licensed clinical social worker, registered intern status, and an examination. ⚠ A BSW is a real qualification for case management, child welfare and community roles — it is not a route to the LCSW. ⚠⚠⚠ AND A CSWE-ACCREDITED BSW IS WORTH REAL GRADUATE CREDIT, WITH A TIME LIMIT NOBODY MENTIONS. Most Florida MSW programmes run an ADVANCED STANDING track for CSWE-accredited BSW holders. At Florida State, the state's largest producer, the traditional online MSW is 61 credit hours and advanced standing is 39 — a difference of 22 graduate credits, about a third of the degree. ⚠⚠ But eligibility runs out: FSU requires the BSW to have been earned within the past SEVEN YEARS, with a waiver route needing social work employment in that period. ⚠ The extent of advanced standing varies by programme — ask each one. ⚠⚠⚠ AND THE MSW OUTPUT IS SPLIT ACROSS TWO CIP CODES, WHICH MATTERS IF YOU ARE COUNTING SEATS. A further 796 master's are coded under CLINICAL/MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK (51.1503) — FSU 431, FAU 143, UWF 120, FIU 74, UNF 28 — and four of those record no master's under the social work code at all. ⚠ Florida's real MSW output is 1,164 a year, not 368. Same nine schools either way; only the counts differ. ⚠⚠⚠ WATCH THE PREFIX. Measured over the Florida course file, SOW is carried by all 9 public universities and 10 state colleges, while HUS — human services — is carried by 17 state colleges and 2 technical colleges and by NO university at all. A human services associate degree is a genuine credential for direct-service work and it earns no advanced standing and does not lead to the LCSW.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Mental Health Counselor and Therapist

⚠⚠ 18 percent growth from 2025 to 2035 and about 50,500 openings a year — against 6 percent for social workers and 6 percent for health education specialists. ⚠⚠⚠ And the numbers behind it are brutal: Florida awards 6,228 psychology bachelor's a year against roughly 372 counselling master's seats, the licensure master's is 60 semester hours rather than the usual 30 to 36, two more supervised years follow it, and the median is $59,350.

Social Worker

816,100 jobs nationally and about 69,100 openings a year — one of the largest openings figures on this site. ⚠⚠⚠ But the specialties people enter the field for pay the least: child, family and school social work is $59,550 and mental health and substance abuse $60,280, while "all other" — largely policy and administration — is $71,900. ⚠⚠ And the clinical licence needs a CSWE-accredited master's plus two years of supervised practice after it.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Early Childhood Educator

⚠ One of the realistic ways out of the $34,980 to $38,140 band without leaving work with children: early intervention, Head Start family services and child protection all value this background. ⚠⚠ Child, family and school social workers earn $59,550 — not a fortune, but a different order from a child care certificate.

School Counselor

⚠⚠ A real alternative inside schools: districts employ school social workers alongside counsellors, under a different certification and a different degree. ⚠ Florida awards 1,164 MSW a year against counselling's 372, so it is the better-resourced route into school-based work if the clinical side is what draws you.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Public Health 14 Florida schools

⚠ The closest graduate neighbour and a common dual degree — the MSW/MPH. Both are population-facing, both sit at universities only, and both have a master's-weighted award profile. ⚠⚠ The difference worth knowing: social work has a state LICENCE at the end and public health has none.

Criminal Justice 46 Florida schools

⚠⚠ A genuine overlap rather than a neighbour: child welfare, juvenile justice, probation and forensic social work sit between the two, and Florida teaches criminal justice at far more institutions. ⚠ But a criminal justice degree earns no advanced standing toward an MSW and does not reach the LCSW — if clinical practice is the goal, the CSWE-accredited route is the only one.

Nursing 78 Florida schools

⚠ Named because hospital social work and case management are shared territory, and healthcare social workers are the best-paid of the social work specialties at $67,880. ⚠⚠ It is also the comparison a student should make on access: nursing is taught at 78 Florida institutions against social work's 9.

Health Care Administration 24 Florida schools

⚠ Where the macro side of social work leads — programme management in behavioural health, child welfare agencies and non-profits. ⚠⚠ Named because BLS puts "social workers, all other" — largely policy and administration — at $71,900, the highest of the specialties, above both clinical mental health and child welfare.

Psychology 10 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The other licensed route out, and in several respects the better-resourced one: 1,164 MSW seats a year against counselling's 372. ⚠ But note the trap — a psychology bachelor's is NOT a BSW, earns no advanced standing, and leaves you doing the full 61-hour MSW rather than the 39-hour advanced standing version.

Counseling 8 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The adjacent licence, regulated by the SAME Florida chapter (491) and often the better-paid route. Social workers overall earn $61,780 against mental health counselors' $59,350, healthcare social workers $67,880, and the macro track $71,900. ⚠ The MSW is 61 credit hours at FSU against the LMHC's statutory 60 — comparable length, wider exit.

Child Care and Early Learning 39 Florida schools

⚠ Shared territory rather than a route: early intervention, Head Start family services and child protection all employ both, and a child care background is genuinely valued there. ⚠⚠ Named because it is one of the realistic ways out of a $34,980 to $38,140 pay band without leaving work with children.

Florida public institutions offering this program

9 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Bachelor's, Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Doctorate (research/scholarship), Master's, Postbaccalaureate certificate. A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Bachelor's · Master's

Florida Atlantic University

Bachelor's · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year) · Postbaccalaureate certificate

Florida Gulf Coast University

Bachelor's · Master's

Florida International University

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

Florida State University

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship)

University of Central Florida

Bachelor's · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of North Florida

Bachelor's

University of South Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's

University of West Florida

Bachelor's · Master's

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 22 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.