Program Overview

The professional Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work offers an advanced practice doctorate in leadership, social change and for agency and community leaders and entrepreneurs.

Unlike other schools of social work that offer advanced practice doctorates in clinical practice or teaching, we prepare experienced professionals to develop practical, applied solutions to large-scale social challenges that directly impact vulnerable, marginalized or otherwise disadvantaged populations.

As a student in our online Doctor of Social Work program, you will develop characteristics of both practitioners and scholars. By adopting the disciplinary habits of scholars through rigorous inquiry and use of methodological tools associated with leading and managing change, you will become an effective social change leader.

Our graduates are prepared to seek management or executive leadership positions that advance their careers in social work and related human service arenas. By leading national discourse about intractable issues affecting populations worldwide, they graduate from the program equipped to establish a legacy of social impact.

In June 2020, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Board of Accreditation (BOA) approved and adopted the Accreditation Standards for Professional Practice Doctoral Programs in Social Work. USC’s Doctor of Social Work program has adopted the Accreditation Standards for Professional Practice Doctoral Programs in Social Work and is currently undergoing accreditation. The program is also offered under the University of Southern California’s institutional accreditation by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). For information about practice doctorate program accreditation, please visit the Council on Social Work Education website.

Addressing Complex Social Problems

Curriculum

Before the final Capstone project courses, DSW students complete courses in “Advanced Practice and Professional Leadership” and “Systematic Inquiry”.

The courses below represent a sampling of the DSW curriculum.

DSW 706 – Leading and Managing Large Complex Systems (3 units)

This course examines large-scale national, state and local social intervention programs (e.g., income security, housing, health, justice and child welfare programs) in the context of how these programs do or do not include strategies to address the Grand Challenges. Implications for fiscal and outcome accountability, inclusion and exclusion criteria, political considerations, funding, social program implications, and interoperability of design are of critical importance.

DSW 707 – Financial Management for Social Change (3 units)

This course will prepare students to apply effective financial management and planning skills in human service organizations. The skills they will develop will emphasize fiscal approaches that maximize revenue, control costs, allocate resources, improve decision-making and support successful social programs and social change.

DSW 714 – Executive Leadership: Leaders as Maestros (3 units)

Students will develop skills that will enable them to apply theories and principles of executive leadership, including development of personal and technical skills and skills in navigating organizations.

DSW 720 – Communication and Influence for Social Good (3 units)

This course examines how communication and messaging strategies and newer information technology — such as mobile apps, social media, Snapchat and more — can be used to craft appropriate messaging that would influence decision-makers, members of social groups, campaigns and/or members of the public to address the Grand Challenges in the interests of the public good.