The M.S.S.W. Distance Education Program

An Award Winning Program!

Welcome to the UT College of Social Work's innovative Distance Education master’s program. This program was created for students who are unable to come to campus for classes due to their physical location. The Distance Education program is designed specifically for Tennessee students who live outside of a twenty-five-mile radius of the Knoxville and Nashville campuses.

The MSSW Distance Education program is taught by the same professors who teach our face-to-face MSSW courses and is held to the same high standards as the traditional on-campus program.

The College's Distance Education M.S.S.W. Program was recently awarded the "Innovative Credit Programming Award" by the Tennessee Alliance for Continuing Higher Education (TACHE).

Distance Education M.S.S.W. students choose from three different courses of study:

DE Full Time Program
Full-time DE students begin classes in the fall semester and complete the full-time program (60 semester hours) in two years, or four semesters, of full-time study. Students complete the foundation curriculum, which includes a field placement (352 hours) during the first year and the concentration curriculum, which also includes a field placement (672 hours) during the second year. Applicants must have a 2.7 GPA or higher to be considered for this program.
DE Advanced Standing Program.
The DE Advanced Standing program can be completed on a full-time (twelve months) or part-time (eighteen to twenty-four months) basis for a total of thirty-six semester hours. Applicants to this program must have a B.S.W. or B.S.S.W degree from a school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 to be considered. Advanced Standing students begin classes in the summer term. Students will have one field placement (672 hours)
DE Extended Study Program.
The DE Extended Study Program is a part-time program, in which students take six credit hours per semester and complete the M.S.S.W. degree requirements (60 credit hours) in three or four years. Extended Study students begin coursework in the fall term. Extended Study students complete two field placements. The foundation placement (352 hours) is during the second year of study and the concentration placement (672 hours) can either be in the third or fourth year, depending on course of study. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 2.7 or higher to be considered for this program.

Distance Education classes are taught online and utilize both asynchronistic (complete work online on your own) and synchronistic (meet for “live” interaction via computer) approaches. Students should expect to meet in Nashville for a few face-to-face sessions. Such sessions occur no more than three times per semester and take place on weekends. Student internships are arranged within a reasonable driving distance from the communities they reside.

Tto see what a live synchronistic online class looks like, watch this video.

The Distance Education M.S.S.W. program is held to the same standards as the traditional on-campus M.S.S.W. degree. Curriculum and course descriptions, fee information, and application instructions can be accessed from the M.S.S.W. Program main page, or via the links to the right on this page.

Computer requirements for Windows-based computers may be found at:
http://liveonline.utk.edu/techsupport/pc_requirements.shtml . Computer requirements for Apple OS X-based computers may be found at:
http://liveonline.utk.edu/techsupport/mac_requirements.shtml .

Please be sure to take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page.

For more information about our Distance Education program, contact Kate Chaffin, Director M.S.S.W. Distance Education Program, at 615-256-1885, ext. 141 or kmcclern@utk.edu.