Tulane School of Social Work

Student Experience

Tulane School of Social Work Online Graduate Programs

What We Offer Our Students

Tulane School of Social Work prioritizes immersive learning, and our faculty relies on a series of innovative digital platforms that make online learning environments practical and efficient. Online students, no matter where in the world they live, will find that they benefit deeply from Tulane’s setting in the diverse, culturally rich, inspiring and sometimes challenging environment of New Orleans. Tulane’s online programs allow students to bring the lessons we’ve learned here in New Orleans back to their own communities.

Our Long-Held Priorities

The online MSW, MS-DRL, and DSW programs are constructed around what has been one of Tulane’s central priorities since it first began training social workers over a century ago: ensuring that the programs are giving students the tools to build relationships with the communities in which they are working. These relationships create a crucial foundation as social workers seek to empower oppressed and long-disenfranchised communities to create and lead their own improvement initiatives.
Students in Tulane’s online MSW are required to complete 948 hours of practicum education with an organization in their community. This hands-on experience is the bedrock of the program; it allows the students to put their reading assignments, online classroom discussions, and written work into action, taking theory to practice.

We offer our students the tools to develop a compassionate, nuanced, informed, and clinically-backed understanding of social work and its tools. When they graduate, they’re ready from day one to go out and do work that matters.

 

The Benefits of the Online MSW and DSW Programs


Study at your own pace
The online MSW can be completed on your timeline, when and where your life allows. Students can choose to take classes part-time while managing their busy lives or complete the degree full-time in just 16 months. The online DSW degree allows students to pursue an advanced degree while maintaining their current life responsibilities.
 

Adapt to Community Needs and Opportunities
No matter where in the world you live, you’ll reap unmatchable benefits from studying with an institution that is defined by New Orleans — the city we call home. Our faculty members have helped shape the resilient, creative community here, and that community has shaped them, and our students, in turn.

Because our online MSW students are studying and completing their practicum education requirement in their own communities, they’re constantly considering how New Orleans’ manifold lessons can be adapted to the problems and opportunities presented by their own settings. Our DSW students are pushed to think creatively about new ways of applying research and clinical findings to the unique populations they serve, equipped with tools and ideas forged in a one-of-a-kind city.

Start Establishing Future Roots Now
Students enrolled in Tulane’s online degree programs have the benefit of establishing Tulane connections in their home communities and across the nation. From involvement in practicum education opportunities to groundbreaking clinical projects to seeking out thriving alumni groups, our online MSW and DSW students can start establishing the roots that will lead to future careers as soon as they start the program — without having to upheave their lives after graduation. We do everything we can to help students feel connected both to Tulane and, just as importantly, to the social work community in the places where they already live.

 

Online Learning Environment

Students in Tulane’s online social work and disaster resilience leadership programs enjoy all the benefits of our on-campus programs, including personalized attention from world-class faculty, a clinical-community curriculum supported by extensive real-world experience, opportunities to build meaningful relationships with fellow students, career services, and more.

Live, intimate classes

Students participate in weekly synchronous (live) sessions via Zoom. Zoom classrooms not only provide the real-time interactions and faculty guidance students need to excel in the program but also give them the opportunity to learn from their peers, develop relationships with other professionals, and create lasting connections. When small-group work is needed, students can use personal Zoom rooms to prepare for class presentations or host study sessions.

 

User-friendly tools and technology

Tulane delivers its coursework via the award-winning Canvas app. Canvas helps students submit assignments, take quizzes, keep track of their schedules, and participate in group discussions. The app is available for download to smart devices through Apple iTunes and Google Play.

Community & social connections

Our technology is thoughtfully designed to facilitate connections with instructors and peers. If students have something to say during class but don’t want to interrupt, they can use the chat function to type a comment or question or post a resource. No matter where they are, students attend class with their classmates at the same time each week, enabling them to get to know one another.

Available anywhere, anytime

Students access their virtual classrooms through easy-to-use apps installed on their mobile devices, laptops, and tablets, meaning course materials and assignments are always accessible. If students need to read during a lunch break in the park, for example, they need only their tablets, and if students need to start a live small-group discussion while riding the bus home, they need only their phones.

Personalized instruction, support, and coaching

Students can expect personalized attention throughout their coursework and practicum education experiences. Small class sizes and virtual office hours ensure students get the attention they need from their professors. Tulane assigns every student an academic success coach, an academic advisor, and a faculty advisor. This support ensures students receive guidance, feedback, encouragement, and resources to reach their unique academic, career, and personal goals.

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Best-in-class content

Our online social work programs build on our commitment to innovation in the social work and disaster resilience leadership fields. Tulane founded the first training program for social services in the South over a century ago. Since then, the school has been a nationally recognized destination for people who want to do work that matters, and both our top-ranked MSW and DSW degree programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

Student Support

Tulane’s online social work programs employ cutting-edge learning management system (LMS) technology that effectively supports pedagogy and practicum education experiences so that our online students receive the full benefits of an education from Tulane. The university’s top-notch faculty, thriving student community (both online and on-campus), organizational partnerships, and career services all benefit the online student’s experience.
Students can expect personalized attention at every step of the way as they pursue their coursework and practicum education experiences within Tulane’s online social work programs. We offer tech support and virtual office hours so that students are sure to get the support they need from faculty.

So that students in our online programs can develop lasting working and personal relationships with fellow students and faculty, our courses emphasize group work, collaboration, and intimacy within our online classrooms.