CSWE Accreditation

March 7, 2022 Candidacy Status Granted

Candidacy for a baccalaureate or master’s social work program by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation indicates that it has made progress toward meeting criteria for the assessment of program quality evaluated through a peer review process. A program that has attained Candidacy has demonstrated a commitment to meeting the compliance standards set by the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, but has not yet demonstrated full compliance.

Students who enter programs that attain Candidacy in or before the academic year in which they begin their program of study will be retroactively recognized as having graduated from a CSWE-accredited program once the program attains Initial Accreditation. Candidacy is typically a three-year process and attaining Candidacy does not guarantee that a program will eventually attain Initial Accreditation. Candidacy applies to all program sites and program delivery methods of an accredited program. Accreditation provides reasonable assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program.

For more information about social work accreditation, you may contact Accreditation.

Timeline for accreditation

• May 2021: Pre-candidacy
• February 2022: Candidacy
• February 2024: Initial Accreditation

The M.S.W. program at Bloomsburg in the candidacy process, and on-track to achieve initial accreditation through the Council on Social Work Education. Look for updates on this webpage as we move through the pre-candidacy stage, candidacy stage, and final accreditation. Because social work education is standardized, this is a thorough process, and we plan to achieve initial accreditation in February of 2024.

Starting our program in August of 2021 is timed to hit our goal of achieving pre-candidacy for the 2021-2022 academic year. Students who begin the program in or after August 2021 will be “grandfathered” in to accreditation once achieved. However, students may not be licensed as master’s level social workers in Pennsylvania until the program is fully accredited.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact:

Andy Dunlap, Ph.D., LCSW
adunlap@bloomu.edu
Associate Professor of Social Work
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
Bloomsburg, PA
2129 McCormick Center
570-389-4932