Fast-track your passion. Minimize your debt. Amplify your impact. 

Why spend four years in the classroom when you can start changing lives in three? With our accelerated, reduced-credit Bachelor of Social Work option, you can earn your degree faster by completing just 96 credits instead of the traditional 120. Do not worry—you won't be cutting corners. This streamlined pathway includes the exact same core curriculum and rigorous major requirements, ensuring you graduate fully prepared and highly competitive. Depending on your individual progress and transfer credits, you could be out in the field and earning a professional salary and/or entering graduate school in as little as three years. Your community needs you now. Get the degree that matches your pace and step into your career ahead of schedule. 

Graduate Early. Start Impacting Lives Sooner. 

Earn your bachelor’s degree faster with our reduced credit option—just 96 credits instead of the traditional 120. You’ll still complete the same core curriculum and major requirements, so you’re getting the full experience without the additional time. 

That means you can: 

• Finish in as little as three years (depending on your progress and any transfer credits) 

• Enter the workforce sooner 

• Enter graduate school earlier 
• Save time and potentially reduce overall costs 

View a sample program plan for our accelerated pathway in Social Work. 

More questions? Contact an undergraduate counselor to get more information

3 + 1 Pathway (BSW + MSW)

Four years. Two degrees. Infinite impact. 

Why stop at a bachelor’s when you can launch your career with a master’s degree in the same amount of time? Our accelerated 3+1 social work program fast-tracks your future, allowing you to earn both your Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and your Master of Social Work (MSW) in just four years total. 

By streamlining your path, you'll save a full year of tuition, bypass unnecessary hurdles, and enter the workforce with the advanced clinical or leadership credentials employers look for first. Don't just learn about change—accelerate your power to create it. 

Fast-Track Your Future (BSW + MSW Combined) 

Earn your bachelor’s degree faster with our reduced credit option—just  credits instead of 120. You’ll complete the same core curriculum and major requirements, allowing you to finish your undergraduate degree in as little as three years, depending on your progress and transfer credits. 

Then, seamlessly transition into your master’s coursework—without losing momentum. 

Ready to turn your passion for social justice into real, lasting change? 

Welcome to a Bachelor of Social Work program built for changemakers. Here, social justice isn't just a concept we talk about in class—it is the lens through which we view everything we do. 

We know that stepping up to challenge systemic inequity takes courage, which is why you won't do it alone. Our program wraps you in a deeply supportive, tight-knit community where faculty and peers have your back. Through transformational, hands-on learning experiences, you will grow from an advocate into a well-equipped professional. 

Don't just watch history happen. Discover your power, master your craft, and build a more just world with us. 

Under Gain Experience in Field Work use Gain Experience through Internship Opportunities

Social Work majors must complete 450 hours of supervised internship placements across three semesters prior to graduation. Social work internships allow you to gain hands-on experience in a real-world environment. You will work with our faculty to select your placements.

These placements provide you with a greater understanding of the social work profession, give you opportunities to gain professional experience working with persons of all ages and diverse cultural backgrounds, and develop a rich professional network. Several Mount Mary students recently received job offers from their internship organization prior to graduation. Internship placements are primarily located in the Milwaukee metro area. Milwaukee’s strong ethnic communities offer rich learning experiences for social work students.

The Master of Social Work curriculum focuses on generalist and advanced skills, specifically in working with Children and Families and Clinical Social Work. Students take core coursework areas of their specialization in order to develop advanced skills.

Students enhance their coursework by participating in an internship. The program works with you in securing an internship which will help you obtain your long-term goals.

Students who do not have a social work undergraduate degree are required to take 57-61 credits (depending on pre-requisites). Students who have an undergraduate degree are eligible for advanced standing which requires 28 credits.

Holding a long tradition of excellence, Mount Mary was the first private University in Wisconsin to have a Social Work baccalaureate program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Mount Mary’s program has been accredited since 1974. Students who wish to take the licensure or certification exams in Wisconsin must graduate from an accredited program. In addition, some employers may be required to hire graduates from accredited colleges and universities. Because Mount Mary’s program is accredited, graduates are immediately eligible to take licensure/ certification exams necessary for employment in the field.   

The Master's program is currently in candidacy for CSWE accreditation. Students who graduate from the program can apply to become advanced practice social workers in the State of Wisconsin. Following graduation, students can work on gaining experience to become a licensed clinical social worker. 

View the CSWE Accreditation Directory

Certification/Licensure: Social workers may be certified or licensed. Students who graduate with a Social Work bacheor's degree from Mount Mary are eligible to take the State of Wisconsin BSW-level certification exam for entry-level professional practice. In order to use the title “social worker,” you must be licensed or certified by the Wisconsin Department of Professional Services. 

Students who graduate with a Master of Social Work degree from Mount Mary are eligible to take the State of Wisconsin Advanced Practice level licensure exam for advanced professional practice. 

View our BSW & MSW outcomes

Melinda Kiltz, DSW, MSW, MPA 
Social Work Department Chair and Associate Professor 
Phone:(414) 930-3261 
Email: kiltzm@mtmary.edu 
Expertise: Disability policy, mobile crisis response, administration 

Sarah Hessenauer-Bladorn, Ph.D, MSW, LCSW
Master of Social Work Program Director Mount Mary University 
Phone:(414) 930-3280 
Email: hessenas@mtmary.edu 
Expertise: Mental health, substance use disorders, social work education 

Rebecca Valentyn, LCSW 
Assistant Professor & Director of Field Education 
Phone: (414) 930-3430 
Email: valentyr@mtmary.edu  
Expertise: Child and adolescent mental health, trauma-informed care, homelessness prevention

Michael Wallace, MSW
Assistant professor/ Fieldwork Program Director 
Phone:(414) 930-3325  
Email: wallacem@mtmary.edu 
Expertise: Mental health, community (macro), social work

Mark Long, DSW
Assistant Professor
Phone:(414) 930-3183 
Email: longm@mtmary.edu  
Expertise: Substance use, human behavior, policy, cultural humility and social services leadership 

Overall employment of social workers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations. In fact, some social service agencies are finding it necessary to recruit social workers from outside the area because in order to meet their social work staffing needs.  

According to 2024 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, social workers earn a median annual salary of $38-45,000. 

A number of career paths exist for those with a bachelor of social work degree, including in areas such as:  

• Community support programs
• Crisis intervention services
• Disability services
• Family and children’s services
• Housing insecurity
• Interpersonal violence
• Medical case management
• Mental health case managers or technicians
• Policy
• Private Schools
• Substance abuse recovery programs

Mount Mary graduates have gone on to work at a number of agencies and organizations, including:

• American Red Cross
• Bread of Healing clinic
• Child Protective Services
• Children's Wisconsin
• Froedtert Health
• Life Navigators
• Lutheran Social Services of WI & UP MI
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services
• MindStar Counseling
• The Cathedral Center, Inc.
• The Guest House of Milwaukee